BEAT THE HOLIDAY STRESS AND WEIGHT-GAIN! - HEALTHY TIPS TO SURVIVE THE HOLIDAYS - Part II - At The Mall

Not only are there sales galore, but there are also numerous traps lurking about the mall that can ruin your holiday fitness plan. In today's post we'll highlight 3 easy ways to make your shopping experience work for you.

Holiday Shopping Tactics: We all have to do it at some point. Although the cyber world has made this holiday activity far easier than what it’s been in the past, some of us will still find ourselves having to brave the malls to do our shopping in person. Take this time and use this as an opportunity to work for you rather than against you

1.Don’t go shopping hungry! If you know that you’re going shopping, plan a light meal prior to going, or carry a snack with you like a healthy snack bar. When hungry, the smells at the food court become very enticing. Foods that you would not normally eat will call out your name.

2.Plan to eat. Instead of hitting the food court, plan to eat at one of the onsite restaurants. Due to their larger and more diverse menu items, many restaurants will offer you healthier food options than the fast food places in the food court. Plan to have lunch prior to shopping or dinner afterwards. This will also help to reduce holiday stress by giving you a chance to relax and decompress after dealing with all of the holiday hustle and bustle.

3.Park far! How long does it take to find a parking spot near the door? How frustrated do you get when you can’t find one, or you have found one, but someone else cuts I front of you and steals your spot before you can get in there? Rather than driving around for hours and getting frustrated while searching for that perfect parking spot closest to the entrance, park the car and walk. One way to do it is this, if Macy’s is on one end of the mall, park on the opposite end, this will encourage you to walk. 10,000 steps (2 miles) a day is required to maintain heart health, Take advantage of the walking distance and include these extra steps to and from the car in that daily allowance. In addition to the heart health, the other benefit here is that you will significantly limit the amount of stress that you will endure during holiday shopping season since you won’t be fighting with other shoppers for that ever elusive parking spot near the door.

Up next in our Holiday Fitness series... Commit to being fit! The benefit of scheduling time for YOU.