Ten days to go

Only ten days to go, are you ready? I don't mean do you have all of your gifts bought and wrapped (I sure don't), is your tree decorated (wonder if its not too late to get one...) and do you have your house and kitchen ready to receive guests (my kitchen still isn't ready to receive me)?

I mean are you ready to kick up the intensity and get through these next ten days as healthy and on track as you were before Thanksgiving was even a thought?

Today, I'm going to hit both diet and fitness points to give you some extra help for these extra sweet and extra stressful days.

A workout for family and friends
As family flies, drives, and even sails into town, one of the first things that they are going to ask is, "so what are we gonna do?" Traditionally, this is where families twiddle their thumbs all day, waiting for the one thing they had planned, which was dinner. Sure you may have planed movies, shopping, or tours of your city, but for the most part, the main event involves food. Now there is no way of changing this, but you can try to add more active events to your days which will be sure to entertain everyone from the little ones to the great grandparents. Here are a few ideas.
- pack a fitness picnic. get a frisbee, a volleyball, some jump ropes, and anything else yo wanna bring and head out to a park. Have the guys get a game of football going, and maybe try to get in a nice game of hide and seek. Hey, maybe grandma can teach the little ones some old fashioned double dutch from back in her day. Going to the park is a great way to spend quality time with your family while staying active and not spending any more holiday money.
- go to a game room. this one is for the kids, but you can trust me. AS an adult, you can have a pretty darn fun time, too. Head to whatever game room you like, Chuck E Cheeze is a good one since all games are only a quarter, and let the family run wild. You can even burn some of your own calories (and excess stress) playing games like Dance Dance Revolution and Pump It Up.
You can also do his at home with the Wii, the Playstation Move, or Xbox Kinect. Remember, the family he plays together, stays FIT together.

A HEALTHY BAKING HINT!!
Its no secret that I hate Splenda (sucrolose), Equal/Nutrasweet (aspartame), and Sweet 'n Low (saccharin). While I know that using these in your baking can knock out quite a few calories, I firmly believe you are better off sucking up the calories of real sugar than using one of these potential cancer catalysts.
Instead, you can use Stevia. Stevia in the raw, and a few other brands have been approved for use in baking. I've made a few treats with this, my most favorite sweetener, and I can tell you they're just as sweet and delicious as the real thing (but don't tell Grandma). You can also try honey, applesauce, or agave nectar as good replacements for sugar and/or oil.

I hope that these hints help you. If I find any restaurants that serve more lower-calorie desserts that you can pick up for your family gatherings, I'll post them here. Let's keep going and stay FIT, healthy, and happy. Now get back to gift wrapping!