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You
know you're going to do it. You know you want
to do it. It's what makes the holidays the holidays.
What is it? Eating piles of holiday food.
This
article is not about how to minimize holiday weight
gain. That topic has been addressed many times
before and will no doubt be addressed many more
times to come. What I'm talking about here is
how to use your increased holiday eating to your
advantage in your training.
For
many trainers (myself included), it's just no
fun being good at the buffet table all the time.
It's very easy to take the joy out of the holidays
by restricting yourself too much.
I propose
something different. Rather than forcing yourself
to eat plain potatoes and dry turkey when your
whole family is sitting down to a big holiday
dinner, join in. I'm going to tell you how to
make it work for you, not against you.
#1 - Forgive yourself in advance
If
you're the type who feels guilty when you eat
foods that aren't the greatest for you, try to
set that aside. This is going to be a positive,
guilt-free experience.
#2 - Reduce your calories BEFORE your big meals
By
reducing your caloric intake before the big meals,
it's much more likely that your body will use
those excess calories to rebuild depleted stores
rather than add to the ones that are already there.
Don't starve yourself or your body will panic
and try to store everything it gets as fat - just
reduce.
#3 - Do a hard, heavy workout as
close to mealtime as you can
Immediately
after a hard workout, your body is desperate for
raw materials to rebuild with. This effect lasts
for about 3 to 4 hours. During this time, your
body is primed for muscle growth. By doing your
workout just before a big holiday dinner, all
that food is going to go towards helping your
body rebuild and recover from the workout. Very
little, if any, of the excess calories you eat
will be stored as fat under these conditions.
#4 - Try to focus on foods with
some nutritional value
Feel
free to load your plate with turkey and mashed
potatoes. These foods have a great deal of nutritional
value to a trainer. Don't hold back on them.
#5 - Increase your training volume
What
this basically means is do more sets for each
muscle group. You may have to decrease your rest
periods or perhaps increase the number of training
sessions you do in order to increase the volume
but doing more sets (at least temporarily) will
give your metabolism a kick-start. It will be
especially effective if you're doing a fairly
low volume training program before switching.
Your body will be desperate for food to rebuild
with and a big holiday meal is just what the doctor
ordered.
#6 - Don't go to sleep after you
eat
I know
it's going to be hard but you're better off not
napping after a big holiday meal. If you sleep,
your body is more likely to store excess calories
as fat, not muscle. It will also slow your metabolism
down and you'll digest your food a lot slower.
Relax, but if you can help it, don't sleep right
away.
#7 - Schedule another heavy workout
for the day after a big holiday meal
After
loading yourself up with carbs, fat and protein,
your body is a nutrient-filled growth machine.
Take advantage of your loading by doing another
high-volume, heavy workout the day after.
#8 - Take all the leftovers people
are willing to give you
Stick
to the more nutritious foods when you do this,
such as meat, potatoes and vegetables. It beats
cooking big meals for yourself for the next three
days.
#9 - If you bring home desserts,
save them for post-workout meals
Like
I mentioned before, your body is primed for growth
after a workout. Most desserts are filled with
sugar. After a workout, your body will suck up
this sugar just like any other carb and not store
it as fat. In fact, it will increase your insulin
levels and help you store protein in your muscles!
Putting these tips to work won't necessarily mean
you won't gain some fat over the holidays but
they can certainly help to minimize fat gain and
maximize your muscle mass gains. Putting your
overeating to work for you may not be pretty but
it can be very effective!
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