Approach the Holidays with a Healthy Mindset

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By Carrie McKewan, A2 Personal Fitness Trainer  

 

It doesn’t matter how committed you are to your diet or exercise plan; the holidays are going to interrupt your daily routine. From holiday parties, to meals out while shopping, and all those sugary sweet treats —so many cookies — it’s challenging to get through the holidays feeling your best, but you can do it with a positive mindset.

 

The first step to your overall well-being is happiness in your own body. Loving your body and everything that it can do and allowing yourself to appreciate it (even with a few more pounds) is the true start to feeling good all the time.

 You should know that number on the scale fluctuates all the time, and it’s a good idea not to focus too much on that. Instead, focus on how you feel in your body. If you don’t feel good, focus on things that do make you feel better. Maybe that’s eating more vegetables, passing on that extra cookie, or moving your body. Grow your own well-being. The more you do things that make you feel your best, the more results you’ll see and feel. 

 

OK. So, you’ve gained some weight and your pants are, well, tighter. You can be angry at yourself for gaining a couple extra pounds of winter weight, or you can accept it’s a pretty common seasonal tendency and move on. There is no reason to lose sleep over it. Use it to give you motivation to get back to working hard in the gym and eating right. The most important message as we close this year and begin the next is to always surround yourself with supportive people (like the A2 team) and simply, love yourself!

 

At A2 Physical Therapy we love our sweet treats and traditions, too. We are not about to pass on a good cookie. And this “healthier” chocolate chip cookie delivers the deliciousness, minus the sugar coma. Merry Christmas!  

 

 

Zero-Refined Sugar Chocolate Chip Cookies

By Tiffiny Hall

 

Servings: 12

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 10 minutes

 

Ingredients:

1 ¾ cup flour (can substitute almond, spelt, gluten free flour 1:1)

1/3 cup rolled oats (can use brown rice flakes or quinoa flakes if gluten-free)

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

2 large eggs lightly beaten

1/3 cup coconut oil

¼ cup honey

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

50 grams quality dark chocolate chips

 

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Mix flour, oats, and baking soda in a large bowl to combine. In another bowl, mix eggs, oil, honey, and vanilla. Add the dry mix with the chocolate and stir until combined. Roll dough into 12 balls, and place on tray evenly spacing them apart, flattening them out slightly with your hand. Bake 10 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes and enjoy!

 

Macronutrients:

Per cookie:

190 calories

4g protein

10g fat

22g carbohydrates

6g sugar