It’s ok, you can have a little!

We’re already at day 16 of 31 Days of Healthy Ways to Enjoy the Holidays More and today’s tip is to sip on a glass of wine for your health and waistline.  There are certainly many reasons to not drink alcohol but worries about derailing a diet are not one of them.

Have you been missing having red wine because you’re trying to lose weight?  Did you know that you can work in a glass of wine a few nights a week and still lose weight?  There’s no reason why you can’t have a few glasses a week while working towards a weight loss goal (barring certain health conditions). A well balanced diet and active life gives you a little healthy wiggle room to indulge and you’re actually more likely to stay on track when you don’t set up strict restrictions.  One 5oz glass of red wine a day for a woman is totally reasonable and comes in at only 125 calories.  No big deal!  In fact, there’s even some research showing that a compound in wine can stop fat cells from growing.  So it might help you lose weight after all.

If helping you have a balanced lifestyle and stop fat cell growth aren’t enough reasons for you to enjoy a few glasses this holiday, here are more health benefits for sipping on the red stuff:

• cardiovascular protection (it reduces systolic blood pressure and relaxes the arteries)
• slows aging
• increases HDL (good) cholesterol
• reduces LDL (bad) cholesterol
• reduces inflammation (which may decrease joint pain)
• reduces chance of blood clot formation (it thins the blood)
• may help control blood sugar in diabetics
• strengthens memory
• slows down cancer cell growth 

If you want to learn more about how to have a healthy balanced diet and lifestyle, I can help.  I know it’s only Monday, but I think I’m going to open up a bottle tonight and have a small glass.  You should too!  And if you want to learn more about how you can have a legit healthy balanced diet and lifestyle everyday (not just at the holidays), I can help.  Don’t be afraid to reach out!