Holiday survival? Yup, it's that time of year when everyone
is looking for the latest tips and tricks on how to survive
the holiday season without adding another six to ten pounds
before January turns the corner.
It seems like we want to be reminded of the obvious this
time of year. What's the best diet, who is doing what in
Hollywood and which ab machine on TV will turn me into the
next super model? In truth, every year around this time we
tighten up our belts and start looking for answers to why
we don't fit into the same size cloths we did in high
school or before the kids or before that "tragic life
circumstance" that made us gain 15 pounds.
The thing is it's none of the above. We gain weight because
we don't have activity levels that equal our eating levels.
The real deal is that we don't need to find any new tricks
or angles. Keep your cash in your pocket. You can't pay for
results. The basics have been pretty much figured out over
the last 50 years of health and fitness. What we need to do
is get control of ourselves and our emotions. We need to
stop looking to outside sources for reasons to treat our
bodies and therefore our minds better and realize that
temporary satisfaction is just that. Temporary.
In reality, we know what we need to do. It's just that we
don't.
Does that mean no fun during the holidays or that you're
doomed to a life of no chocolate cake or beer? Of course
not, I love both chocolate cake and beer and plan on having
some of both over the holidays. I also plan on keeping
active and picking my spots for decadence. The reason is
because even though these bits of temporary satisfaction
may be fleeting and only last minutes, I want to experience
and enjoy them.
Lets face it, we do what we want, not what we are told. I
happen to be a big fan of "both" when asked if I want a fat
free body or to enjoy treats.
Life is short and should be packed with as much joy and
happiness as possible. If treats make you happy then you
should have some. If you eat treats all the time though,
you get fat. Being fat makes people unhappy in the long
run. So if you look at the big picture, eating treats all
the time is like shooting your happiness in the foot (if
happiness does in fact have a foot).
Eating treats every once, like on a planned treat day, a
family get together or night out on the town and TRULY
enjoying the experience is a 100% win-win in my book!
Beer and cake are not the problem. Beer and cake multiple
times a week and then turning it into "your treat that you
deserve at the end of the day" is the problem.
Our bodies are pretty amazing things. We can do just about
anything to them in small infrequent doses and our bodies
will work hard to minimize the damage and restore balance.
Given frequent whacks over the head with the "nutrition
bomb" stick, things start to fall apart.
So how do all of us fitness groupies survive the holidays
without gaining ten pounds? Plan your fun and stick with
your eating and exercise program the other 98% of the time.
Keep your metabolism fired up by hitting the gym with hard,
intense workouts and keep your eating on track during the
normal times. Then when you go out for a night or two
during the holidays, let it rip. Go crazy and get the bugs
out of your system.
Once you get the bugs out of your system, you're ready to
run your metabolism hot for the next couple of weeks. No
regrets but some great experiences and a ton of fun. Did I
mention you'll still have that six pack when you book your
trip for Mexico?
O.K. fine. Just for the sake of keeping with personal
trainer holiday tradition, here are my tips to keep the
pounds off during the holiday season:
1. Do high intensity interval training for your cardio.
2. Think less about the length of your workout and more
about the intensity.
3. If it comes prepared and in a package, it belongs on
your "treat" list.
4. Spend more time lifting iron than you do pedaling and
jogging.
5. Simple is good. The complexity of a workout has no
bearing on the results it will produce.
6. Eat smaller meals but do it more often.
7. Do not cut fat out of your diet and then replace it with
carbohydrates.
8. When eating out, get full on protein before you look at
anything else.
9. When it's time to have fun, don't hold back.
10. When it's time to work, don't hold back and don't
compromise when others want to steer you down a different
path.
----------------------------------------------------
Ray Burton is the owner of BuildingBodies Personal Training
and author of the Fat To Fit Diet And Workout Program. Ray
teaches you how to lose fat and increase your metabolism
using the little-known secrets of the world's best athletes
and military personnel at
http://www.FatToFitProgram.com , home of Fat 2 Fit and
http://www.FasterLeanerStronger.Com , the Internet's
members-only fat loss and fitness interactive community.
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