FIGHT THE HOLIDAY BULGE
Welcome to December. And everything chocolate and peppermint.
End of this month is Christmas and while it has its own food challenges, it also brings on the stress … the stress of buying presents, getting them wrapped and the ultimate stressor that time of year - travel.
All this eating and stress will bring on un-wanted pounds quickly. We are busy running all over town with errands, getting things wrapped up at work for the upcoming time off and the biggest casualty is usually our fitness and nutrition over these few months.
Ah, but there is a cure to these ills, right? Come January 1st we will promise ourselves to join that gym and go in and work off all these unwanted pounds. In reality, we do join the gym (or start picking up the weights buried under clothes at home) and we get after it for a month before the weights go back under the clothes and the gym membership becomes a forgotten credit card charge each month.
We feel defeated by the weight we have gained over the holidays. We feel anxious about returning to the gym with hundreds of new members doing the same thing and all fighting for the same weights and machines. It’s frustrating and we just continue the same old cycle.
What if we could turn this story around?
What if, TODAY, you made the decision that you weren’t going to head into the next few months not working out and eating handful of candy left over from Halloween, indulging in pies at Thanksgiving and seeking out all the Christmas cookies and treats heading into the Christmas holiday?
What if we picked up those weights, today … right now (okay finish reading first) and started even the smallest of workout routines.
What if we threw out all the leftover Halloween candy so we weren’t tempted?
What if at Thanksgiving we focused on protein and veggies and we skipped the pies?
What if we started Christmas shopping now to reduce the stress of the last minute shopping?
What if we hit the gym for the next two months, BEFORE the hoards of members come back on January 1st?
I hear so many people say, “Yeah, I’m going to start that program next week or the at the beginning of next month.” Or they say, “There is no way I can get through the Holiday’s without enjoying all the festivities and food.”
Guess what? Don’t wait to start and yes, you can still enjoy the holiday’s without overeating. Trust me, you will feel so much better if you do both of these things. Why add on pounds that you simply want to wish away come January 1st? Why not start losing some now so you are already ahead of it?
Here are some helpful hints for these next few months:
Hydrate. Start (if you don’t already) drinking half of your bodyweight in ounces of water. EVERY DAY.
Eat more protein. Aim to get in 1gram of protein per pound of bodyweight each day. The increase in protein will help you burn more calories, it will make you feel full longer, reducing those sugar cravings and it will help you build muscle.
Don’t skip carbs and fats …but make sure they are high quality complex carbs and healthy fats. Skip all the processed foods that show up in heaps this time of year. Going for a coffee at your local coffee spot? Get the coffee and skip the muffin, donut, hippie bar, etc. And for gosh sakes, skip the drinks that you think are coffee, but are really nothing more than a glorified sugary drink.
MOVE. Get up and walk. If you are working a ton right now trying to get caught up for your time off, set a timer and make sure you are getting up for short 5 minute walk and stretch every hour. Your body will love you for this. It will also help your brain to take a break.
Lift stuff. Get to the gym. Dust off the weights at home. Do bodyweight workouts (pushups, squats, etc), but get your body used to some resistance. Find 15 minutes each day and do something.
Mindset. Think about where you want to be, not where you are. Focus on what you can become, not what you have become if you aren’t happy with your current weight, fitness, muscle development. Find some inspirational photos and tell yourself everyday that this is your goal.
Rest. Your body must recover in order to become healthier. If you are grinding it out day after day and night after night, you will not achieve your goals even if you are eating better and working out. The magic happens when you rest and certainly when you sleep. You are not a hero, nor a warrior because you can sleep 2-3 hours and go to work. What you are doing is preventing your body from recovering and possibly heading down a path longterm for a lot of other health issues. When you don’t sleep your Cortisol gets out of whack and this causes a lot of weight gain.
Smile and celebrate. Be happy. Laugh. Have fun. Enjoy your life and be excited about where you are headed. Celebrate the small wins. We often focus on the end goal that can sometimes feel unattainable. Give yourself a high five for hitting the gym. Celebrate the first pound you lose, then the second and the third and so on. Go buy a new smaller size when you drop some weight or perhaps a bigger shirt when you start putting on muscle. Feel your body making changes and how much better you feel. It’s a journey that you want to be on from today until you are well into your 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, 80’s and possibly beyond.
Go live the life you dream of. You deserve it!