Halloween is here, the holidays are calling, travel, family, lots of eating, drinking, and 6-15lbs of extra body fat. Fun times with family and friends do not have to ruin your diet or cause you to gain the dreaded holiday pounds that everyone seems to be working off from January to March before they lose commitment to their resolution goals. New year, new you, right?… Wrong. Why wait? Why not stop those pounds from ever showing up with a strategy that will allow you to progress in your fitness goals while still enjoying all the holiday foods you love?
The biggest issue I see with holiday eating is that people treat the holidays like one big “cheat season,” where they barter with themselves, or just say ‘screw it’ and eat whatever they want… for 2 whole months. This can not only wreak havoc on your digestive system, but push you farther and farther from those goals that you have worked so hard for all year. Even just one day of uncontrolled eating with the high calorie holiday food we love can cause extreme weight gain, especially if you have been dieting for a few months prior to the holiday season. It is very easy to have a Thanksgiving day calorie count of 4,000 calories without even knowing it. That is okay for a big guy like me, but for a woman that has been dieting or an average sized man trying to lose those few extra pounds this can easily reverse the hard work you have been putting in for the last few months.
Let’s face it, some of you are not going to listen to me and the blinders will go up during the holidays, but the one thing you must continue to do is exercise. People tend to stop exercising during the holidays because they are traveling or with family and don’t want to be a bother. This is going to make the amount of calories you can ultimately consume much lower because you just aren’t burning fuel like you do when you come to the gym 2-4 times per week. Why not invite your family to workout with you? Find a local gym and get a 2 week pass, most of them will give this out for free or a small fee. Get a full body strength training workout in at least 3 times a week, and you will be putting up a good fight against gaining that winter blubber.
Sometimes you don’t have access to a gym, I understand that. This is a great opportunity to try out a new way of working out. Why not try out a bodyweight circuit? All you need are some suspension straps or a stable rope to pull against. Though this workout will not increase your strength a ton it will keep you moving and keep those calories burning.
Here is a sample workout you can try. Do this three days per week and add in at least two 30 minute sessions of low intensity cardio to get that metabolism running. Invite the family to join you because no one wants to gain that holiday weight and working out with other people is fun.
Disclaimer: This is for a more seasoned gym goer, so if you have little to no experience shoot me an email and I can modify this program to fit your needs. email: [email protected]
15 Jump Squats
10 Push-ups (it’s okay to kneel)
10 Suspension Rows
10 Lunges (each side)
30 sec Front Plank
30 sec Right Side Plank
30 sec Left Side Plank
Do each exercise one after the other for 5 rounds, resting 2 minutes between each round.. This is a great bodyweight circuit that will help you keep off the holiday pounds and stay fit and healthy while you are away.
Stay tuned, next week we will go over nutrition strategies to survive the holidays and what you need to know about your Thanksgiving dinner.
