by Joan Kuper

Created on: December 11, 2010   Last Updated: December 12, 2010

This Holiday try something new. Commit to dancing several times a day, every day. You can dance alone for short periods of time and you could reduce Holiday stress and be able to indulge in more Holiday treats without gaining weight.

All it really takes is some self discipline to be rewarded for your efforts. Work out a daily routine and add to it as you feel motivated. You can do this in periods of ten to fifteen minutes or less or more.

For example:

Morning Dancing

You can start as soon as you wake up. While still in bed, you can move (dance) in place humming a song to yourself. This could actually help you wake up.

After you get out of bed, put on one of your favorite CD’s or turn on the radio or TV as your background music. Dance while going through your morning routine. I like the beat of Salsa music. The Beach Boys and the Beatles are also still favorites of mine. 

Day Dancing

Whether you are working outside the home or not, there are always opportunities to work in dancing.

You can dance while driving. Just move your shoulders and hips to the beat of the radio, your CD or your own tune.

If you are in an elevator dance to the music. (This is probably best when you are alone.)

While waiting for a doctor in the exam room, you could dance in place. 

Evening Dancing

At your computer you could look up an old favorite song and dance while sitting or you could stand up and dance to the music.

While watching TV you can dance to the tunes of commercials or dance to songs played during a movie or any TV program. 

The key of course is to decide on a minimum you will do every day. Dancing burns calories. Depending on your weight and the type of dancing you do, you can burn calories as well as feel better and thereby reduce stress.

The more you currently weight the more calories you will burn dancing. For example 15 minutes doing club type dancing will burn approximately 71 calories for a 125 pound person and 86 calories for a 150m pound person. You can check out how many calories are burned while dancing by going to this website:  Dietbites.com/Pyramid-Diet/calories-burned-dancing.h tml11150

 Do something good for yourself and try this. There is no down side and it could make all the difference in gaining or losing weight during the Holidays. It can also keep you calm and relaxed so you can enjoy the Holidays more than usual.

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