Tips for Beating the Holiday Bulge from Your Personal Training Red Deer Team at 360 Fitness
Guest Blog Post from Red Deer Personal Trainer, Catherine Cole CPT
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Holiday Season is upon us and with all of the awesome parties and events filling up our schedules, its easy to get to January 1st a little heavier then we would like. Recently, I saw a statistic that said the average person gains 5-10 lbs between Halloween and New Years Day. 5-10 lbs!!!
If you are like me, and want to head into the New Year without the overwhelming shame spiral that comes with the gorge fest that is so typical of the Holiday season then join me in following these Holiday Survival Tips.
1. Eat Before the Party
Say What? Won’t I just end up eating twice as much? Typically, when people know that they have an event in the evening, either they don’t eat or eat very little all day to try and counter act the damage they plan on doing that night. Save extra calories and then eat twice as much at your event? Seems to make sense in theory but the problem here is the hungrier you feel, the less self control you will have when you get to the party. When your blood sugar takes a dive, OVER indulging is typically our reaction. When you are starving your body enters into a cycle of fluctuations in blood sugar, followed by the out put of insulin, which is then followed by the surge of cortisol as our sugars drop super low again followed by more sugary treats, keeping us in the cycle of fat storage, stress and inflammation, as opposed to fat-burning and relaxation. So what to eat? My recommendation is to eat Breakfast, snack, Lunch and snack as you would normally.
Focus on protein, and veggies, as well as healthy fats. Don’t forget to hydrate!
2. Set Your Limits with Booze Before Hand
Decide what you are going to drink. Set your limit on the number of drinks that you intend to have. Avoid drinks with high calorie mix in them. Egg Nog, Pop, and Specialty Coffee Drinks with whipped cream are all bad ideas. Have a glass of water between every drink. You will thank me in the morning when you have avoided the dreaded holiday hang over.
3.Keep your Regular Fitness Routine.
Stay accountable to your workouts. If you need to miss an appointment due to an event, make sure that you reschedule and don’t just cancel it altogether. Don’t underestimate what that workout does for your waistline! Keeping your gym appointments will keep your motivation to eat well high, and your endorphins pumping. If you find that you have gone overboard on the treats, give yourself an extra HIIT session or a cardio session to counteract some of those excess calories.
4. Make Time in Your Schedule for Meal Prep
I get it, you’re busy! Parties, kids’ sports, Christmas concerts and the like keep you running all day. But taking that time to meal prep will leave you healthy options all the time!
If you can’t squeeze in the extra couple of hours, then do it as you make dinner normally. We can multitask, right? As the saying goes, failing to plan is planning to fail! Give yourself 10 minutes a week to plan what you will make. Take time twice a week to make bulk meals, and make sure that your food for the next day is prepared and packed up the night before. Some great easy small meals ideas on the run: lean organic deli meats or pepperoni, hardboiled eggs, jerky, fresh fruit and vegetables, unsweetened applesauce, edamame, nuts, seeds and nut butters are all great choices. This will leave you with less fast food meals, less junk food and less impulse calories.
5. Set CLEAR intentions
Don’t just tell yourself that you want to try and avoid weight gain. Be clear with your goals. Tell yourself that you will maintain your weight, or lose weight. And then put your intentions into action. As a Personal Training Red Deer expert, I believe a big reason why people cannot lose weight is because they don’t actually believe that they can. Set a goal of how many workouts you will get in through November and December – an actual number and check them off as you get through them.
Set your goal and then write down the exact steps you need to take to get there. Eating regularly, working out, avoiding the excess food and alcohol, sleeping 7-8 hours a night are all steps to take to help you reach your goals.
Catherine Cole, CPT
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PS – if you are looking to have a GREAT holiday season, feel amazing in your skin and be the best you can be for all your holiday parties then you should check out our upcoming Little Black Dress Challenge – Holiday Edition!
Learn More Here => www.360fitness.ca/littleblackdress
With our all-inclusive 4 week, women’s only fitness and nutrition challenge together we will help you rock that Little Black Dress this holiday season!
Learn More Here => www.360fitness.ca/littleblackdress
BONUS – if you drop a dress size during the challenge we will even buy you a brand you dress to proudly wear at our finale! How cool and motivating is that?!?!
Hurry, spots are going fast for this one.
Learn More Here => www.360fitness.ca/littleblackdress
