The 3rd annual Holiday Bootie Buster Challenge is here!! We have had over 120 participants for the last two years and I expect even more this year. The goal of HBBC is to provide a little additional motivation to stay active and make good choices throughout the holiday season. The stats say the average American may gain at LEAST 5lbs…but even if you gain 2lbs and don’t lose it that adds up each year.

Are you being honest with yourself about your body? I admit that I have not been honest lately. I had an injury and really fell off the workout wagon. A friend of mine suggested that it’s a good idea to look at myself naked for a minute or two each day. YIKES? REALLY? But, she has a point.

Think about it. Do you take the time to look at yourself naked in the mirror? Do you know what your body truly looks like? Are there changes that you’d like to make? Try making a habit of spending at least 2 minutes each day looking at yourself naked in the mirror to truly monitor changes that might be taking place. Getting to know how your body looks naked is critical in how you treat it in the future.

Although the scale may inch up during or after a holiday, keep in mind that weight fluctuations are perfectly normal. To gain an actual pound of body fat, you’d have to consume a lot of calories: 3,500 to be exact—and this is on top of what you normally eat in a given day. And even if the number on the scale does climb, that doesn’t always mean that you’ve gained actual body fat. When you step on a scale, you’re weighing muscle, bone, body fat, water (one gallon weighs eight pounds), undigested food, and waste that your body hasn’t eliminated yet.