FitSugar

7 Tips For Being the Best Gift Giver

Colleen Barrett — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 09:46:41 PST

Like most things, all you need to know to be an amazing gift giver can be found in the words of 30 Rock's Jack Donaghy. "Gift giving is the purest expression of friendship," he tells Liz Lemon. "I'm going to think about what I know and like about you and that will lead me to the perfect gift. And you do the same."

The problem is we don't always know the people we're buying gifts for as much as we'd like, so I've rounded up some advice that will make you the best gift giver under the tree. After all, competition is what the holidays are all about.
Get the tips below.

Breakdown of Eggnog Alternatives

FitSugar — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 22:46:52 PST

They may be loaded with cheer, but holiday drinks are also notoriously rich and calorie-heavy. Staples like eggnog are sure to show up at seasonal soirees, so it's helpful to do a little planning before you sip. One cup of eggnog contains about 350 calories along with 11 grams of saturated fat, but that doesn't stop 45 percent of FitSugar readers from enjoying it here and there. If you're looking for a wintry treat for a festive fete, you might try to serve or pack a lighter alternative like soy nog or rice nog. They both contain less fat and nearly half the calories of eggnog.

To see the full breakdown read more.

Jet-Set Family: 10 Apps For Families Going on Spring Break

Rebecca M Gruber — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 15:14:44 PDT

Hit the road without hitting rock bottom! Spring break is prime time for travel – be it for a trip to grandma's house or on a vacation – but getting there isn't always half the fun. Eliminate mad dashes through the airport in search of a toilet and road trip boredom with a few apps designed to make the air, roads, and rails just a wee bit friendlier!

Sunday Confessional: I Have the Holiday Blues

Tres Community — Sun, 26 Dec 2010 03:15:00 PST

This week's confession comes from our anonymous Confession Booth group in the TrèsSugar Community. Weigh in with your advice below.

Here's a confession: I am starting to loathe the holidays. All of the family get togethers squeezed into a 2 week period, with the same conversations year after year. The forced happiness and excitement over gifts that you would never use, the crazy traffic, the list goes on and on. I tend to be a low key and somewhat introverted person and the holidays just seem to bring out my need for solitude. I find myself dreading family parties, and being happier when it is all over. Does anyone else feel like this? Any advice?

There's lots of great stuff going on in our community - join it, check it out, share your posts or advice in the great groups, and maybe we'll feature it here on TrèsSugar!

Tone It Up's Holiday Baking Workout

Fit Community — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 10:30:41 PST

The Tone It Up girls just posted a cookie baking workout video in the FitSugar Community. Get ready to shake and bake.

Happy holidays Fitsugar friends!! We have a fun workout for you!

Join our ToneItUp Community on FitSugar for more fitness videos and recipes every month!

If you're going to be spending hours in the kitchen this holiday season, then this is the perfect solution for you. Try these exercises to Tone Up while having fun in the kitchen!

For more details on these baking moves, keep on reading.

The 12 Boot Camp Moves of Christmas

Self — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 08:00:30 PST

We are pumped to share one of our fave stories from Self here on FitSugar!

If all of the eating and drinking of this holiday season has made your waistline a bit merrier, take action now. End this year on a lighter, more toned note by incorporating top boot camp moves from former Marines, Alex Fell and Ruben Belliard of Warrior Fitness Boot Camp, into your workouts. Get ready for fat-blasting cardio and tough total-body strength training.

Jumping Jacks: 25 repetitions

Stand with your feet together hands at your sides. In one motion, jump and spread your feet apart while raising your arms up from your sides. Clap your hands together above your head and bring them back down to your side while bringing your feet together. Repeat. It should be 1 fluid motion.
Traditional Push Ups: 10 reps
Upper body and core exercise. Hold the push up position and lower your body to the ground until your biceps are parallel to the floor. Then push up. Do the Push Up on your knees if you are a beginner and off your knees if you are more advanced.

Learn the next 10 moves when you keep reading.

Holiday Fit Tip: Handling Party Situations

FitSugar — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 17:15:27 PST

In my world B.Y.O.B. stands for "bring your own broccoli." That's just one of our simple tips for handling the foodiness of the holiday season. Watch and learn how you can enjoy your seasonal indulgences and still mind your health.

David Kirsch Indulges Too!

Guest Writer — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 07:00:04 PST

The following post was written by New York-based trainer David Kirsch.

If there's ever a time where we are more susceptible to overindulging, the Christmas to New Year week is one of them! But did you know you can savor something without regretting it?

This is a healthy twist on an old Christmas classic. It delivers all the flavor of the classic eggnog but without the calories, sugar, or fat. In fact, you'll save yourself 100 calories and 6 grams of fat. That's the equivalent of having to do a 25-minute walk to burn off the nog instead of a 45-minute walk.

5 Dieting Mistakes to Avoid Over the Holidays

FitSugar — Sun, 19 Dec 2010 23:00:39 PST

December is a month rife with temptations for the dieter. Holding steady through the holidays and maintaining your weight through the season is certainly admirable. Especially when factor in that you have less time to exercise and more events to attend. But play it smart and avoid these common mistakes dieters tend to make around Christmas and New Years.

Source: Thinkstock

Tips From the Editor-in-Chief: I Feel Fat!

Self — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 08:00:49 PST

We are pumped to share one of our fave stories from Self here on FitSugar!

Everyone is saying this to me . . . teammates and friends, thin people and less thin people, and while I don't see a big difference it's how they FEEL, so that's legit. And I feel it, too, especially compared to my superfit self of the summer.

It's that time of year when you go to the movies and eat, you go to holiday parties and drink and eat, you go to dinner with family and eat. Plus according to our Self.com survey, 41 percent of us eat from stress during the holidays (28 percent drink more than we'd like) and honestly, the time of year (cold, dark mornings and wet, rainy Sundays) makes working out harder and food so much more . . . comforting.

Is the economy making us fat? Well, the "recovery" hasn't quite happened yet and we are all trying to make the season as joyful and cheerful as possible but still get by on less than in years past. Is the workplace more fraught? Fewer people on projects means more work for those of us lucky enough to have jobs. Is the home front also a stress nest? Seventy-three percent of women worry frequently or constantly about not having enough time to finish their to-do list, and 85 percent say worries keep them up at night, wake them up or otherwise interfere with their sleep.

OK, so we know the problem: We're stressing and the only real comfort at times seems to be that brownie or office birthday cake or for me, an afternoon forage for chocolate (4 p.m. is my toughest time, and I can see the nutrition editors smiling as I approach, looking for a treat that has been sent to the office in the guise of being "healthy" dark chocolate. That would be fine, but I usually eat too much and often go for the less healthy choices on hand.

For the EIC's recommendations on the matter, just keep reading.