Holidays, holidays…
The time of celebratory indulgences with a hint of dread about losing all of your hard-earned
fitness gainz.
Although typically this is the time of the year where we set aside our meal preps and
macro calculators to instead, enjoy time with our families, it doesn’t mean that we should
just forget all about our delicate goals.
There are still a number of things we can do that might help us stay the course without
entirely ruining our festive feasts.
And grandma will thank you for it after serving you a fourth and fifth scoop of her famous
mash potatoes.
Here are three tips you should consider to help you keep some of the weight off during
the holidays.
Number 1, Finish your proteins first.
Your lean meats, your nuts, your eggs, and even your beans.
These are the things to eat first along with your greens.
Most of us, instead, tend to immediately go for the delicious carby goodness.
However, doing so, might actually lead us to eating much more than had we eaten our
proteins first.
Proteins are the most satiating, or filling food out of the three primary macronutrients
of proteins, fats, and carbs.
Time and again we have seen that people naturally eat less and gain less fat when consuming
more protein.
The lower fat gain might be attributed to protein’s higher cost of energy to break
down in our bodies.
Plus, protein is less likely to be metabolized for energy, where carbs in the form of glucose
and fats in the form of fatty acids have much higher priority.
This means less protein converted into fat.
Of course, protein is also imperative to muscle protein synthesis, aka help you with your
muscle gains.
Get your proteins first, and honestly, not just for the holidays, but preferably all
of your meals if you have a fat or weight loss goal.
This doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy all of the other fatty and carby dishes.
You certainly still can, just eat your protein first and maybe you’ll be satisfied enough
with a smaller portion of the other dishes.
Number 2, Offer to Cook.
It’s time to show off the cooking skills you’ve accumulated from all the hard work
on meal prepping.
No doubt you’ll get a big fat kiss from your parents for even offering to help, but
also, just like your meal preps, you’re able to control the ingredients that go into
the dishes.
Like… adding more protein, *wink wink.* Or less sugar, less oil, etcetera.
Whatever it may be, this control means you can tailor a dish to be friendlier to yours
and probably all of your family members’ goals.
Sure, you wouldn’t want to change the recipes too much where the dish becomes too bland,
or else this would be the last holiday dinner you’ll be cooking.
But, at least knowing what IS going into your dish is better than not.
You’ll be better equipped to plan around it.
And let’s not forgot all the calories you will be burning in the kitchen.
Cooking, especially for a big family, is no easy feat.
So, get the oven heated and try not to burn the food as much as you’re going to burn
them calories.
And…
Number 3, Plan Ahead This one is probably the best advice you can
have to keep yourself from turning into jolly old Saint Nick himself.
If you don’t want to even THINK about changing any part of your holiday feasting, then it’s
best that you plan ahead.
In this case, every big, festive eating day should be treated just like a cheat day.
Like any cheat day, sticking to a calorie deficit during this time would prove useful
in order to mitigate all the damage you’re going to do.
That means getting consistent exercise for as many days as possible and making sure your
nutrition is in peak shape.
The more days you can plan ahead, the better.
For example, if you think you’re going to eat around 5,000 calories during the holiday,
3 weeks of a 240-calorie daily deficit is better 1 week of 715 daily calories.
And it doesn’t have to be days before the holiday, but also days after.
A very strong exercise session the day of your feasting is also a good idea so that
you can take advantage of all the extra nutrients to feed your hungry muscles.
And the thing is, you probably already KNOW that you SHOULD plan ahead before even watching
this video.
Now that you’ve actually heard someone else tell you this, hopefully you will follow through
just as you will follow through in downing all four different slices of pie…
And there you have it.
Three tips to get you staying on the right track during these wonderful holidays.
If you found these tips useful, then please give the video a thumbs up and share it with
your holiday-loving friends.
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As always, thank you for watching, Happy Holidays and GET YOUR PROTEIN!