13 Holiday Tips to Fight Weight Gain

Here are several handy damage control strategies that you should employ to prevent yourself from overdoing it at the dinner table this holiday season. Use these tips to stay social and to be able to indulge in moderation without splitting your pants before the New Year:

1.) Perform High-Intensity Activity Before and/or After a Big Meal or Holiday Feast

I know. I promised diet strategies, but we cannot go on without recommending some activity. Your body is most receptive to higher calorie and/or carbohydrate meals within 30 minutes before and within three hours following high-intensity activity. Ideally you would want to workout out before AND after a big meal, but if you can only do one, that will suffice. It is less important when you do it and more important that you do it. Your best options will be 20 minutes of circuit resistance training or cardio interval training. Even a 20-30 plus minute walk a few hours afterwards can serve as a bit of damage control.

2.) Do NOT Fast in Preparation for a a Big Meal or Holiday Feast

Fasting in preparation for a free meal will not only lead to overeating, but worse: overeating foods that are extremely high in sugar, fat, or both! Your body has a survival mechanism. If it hasn’t had food in a while it anticipates a famine state. Then the next meal you eat your body will use as much of the incoming food as possible to store as body fat (survival energy) in anticipation that it won’t see food again for another long period of time. Do yourself and your body a favor by eating every two to four hours as you normally should to prevent yourself from becoming a ravenous, fat-storing beast this holiday season!

3.) Do NOT Gorge Yourself

Eat until the point of satisfaction, not discomfort. Remember this: binge eating is not the habit of lean individuals. It is imperative to understand that holiday meals are not a ticket to eat as much as you can in as little time as possible. However, listen to your body and make sure to enjoy the foods you are craving in moderation and only eat when you are hungry.

4.) Eat a High-Fiber, Protein-Rich Meal An Hour Before a Holiday Event

A meal high in fiber and protein before a big holiday meal will help prevent overeating by making you feel more full which in turn means less calories consumed during the ensuing feast. My favorite strategy is to drink a protein shake with a added fiber and healthy fats (e.g. 2-4 Tbsp. flax meal) and 1 liter of water before such a meal to help keep me nice and full upon arrival.

5.) Eat Lean Proteins, Fruits and Vegetables FIRST

Just because it’s a holiday meal doesn’t mean you can’t eat any nutritious food. Make sure to load up on healthier food choices first and try to eat as much lean meat, fish, and fruits and veggies as possible at the start of each holiday event. This will leave less room for the unhealthier, higher calorie treats. This way you know your body is getting in some good nutrition.

6.) Drink, Drink, Drink Water!

Water competes for space in your stomach and truly helps decrease appetite. For every plate you eat, try to drink at least 1-2 glasses of water. After that second plate, when you have 1 full liter of water in your stomach, I bet you might just throw in the towel!

7.) Do NOT Eat Again Until Hungry Following a Large Meal

Now I know I already told you to eat every 2-4 hours, but there is one exception to this. If you eat a huge meal, it is important not to eat again until you are hungry and/or no longer full. If your body is not used to eating such a big meal, then it will take a much longer time to digest all that food and the worst thing you can do is put more food into an already full stomach.

8.) Immediately Resume Your Normal Eating Schedule at the Next Meal

What’s done is done. Now it is time to get back to your regular eating plan. Remember weekly caloric intake is far more important than daily caloric intake. For example, let’s say that you need 3,000 calories per day to maintain your current body weight. Well, all that you need to do is make sure the average daily caloric intake each week is 3,000 calories per day. This means that you can fluctuate your daily caloric intake and yield the same results as if you ate that same amount each day. So if you have one day of big eating where you eat 9,000 calories (just an example, not a recommendation), but you only eat 2,000 calories per day the rest of the week, you will still end up at the same caloric balance. I am suggesting that you do not have to obsess about being perfect. Enjoy some indulging in moderation at your various holiday festivities knowing that the week in review trumps a day in review, even when you are particularly naughty on any given day.

9.) Never Eat Junk Food for Breakfast or Before Bed

Eating a highly refined carbohydrate meal first thing in the morning will make your blood sugar levels go crazy for the rest of the day resulting in greater junk food cravings and uncontrollable hunger. On the other hand, eating a big meal before bed will result in a bunch of unused energy that will be stored as body fat and you very well may have trouble sleeping with all of that extra food volume in your stomach!

10.) Control your Portions

Try to eat only half of all the servings of unhealthy food that you choose. Half of the portions equal half the calories!

11.) Avoid Empty Liquid Calories and Alcohol

One can easily consume over 1,000 calories per day from liquid calories alone. This means that in one week, you will gain 2 lbs of body fat from just fluids! Opt for regular solid food calories versus empty liquid calories (e.g. juices and soft drinks), at least the food will fill you up and provide some nutrition where as liquid calories, particularly alcohol, have no such effect. Rather, sugary and/or alcoholic drinks tend to make you hungrier in general and often hungrier for junk food in particular. Furthermore, your body cannot burn fat until the alcohol is processed out of your body in addition to the fact that alcohol consumption actually lowers leptin levels thus defeating one of the main purposes of this flexible eating (decreased leptin levels increase hunger and decreases your body’s use of fat for fuel). Thus over-consumption of alcohol can prevent the fat burning process from resuming until several days later and/or even cause unwanted fat gain and thus set you back as little as a few days to as long as a full week!

12.) Use Lower Calorie/Carbohydrate Substitutes Whenever Possible

Instead of using sugar, opt for zero calorie alternatives like splenda or stevia. They can deliver a similar taste without all of the extra sugar and calories. Even try replacing yeast with protein powder when you bake. The extra protein and reduced carbohydrates will result in a slimmer you while still providing some great tasting treats! Your goal should be to find the minimal amount of calories that can provide the same great taste that makes the holiday treats enjoyable rather than simply overdoing it because you can!

13.) Avoid Eating Meals that are High in Both Fat and Carbohydrates

The absolute worst thing that you can do is to eat a meal that is high in both fat and carbs. The high amount of carbs will lead to a rapid increase in blood sugar levels and thus large increases in the potent fat-storing hormone Insulin. The high amount of fat will lead to a large increase in free fatty acids in your bloodstream. Since Insulin is already present in large amounts, in addition to there being a large amount of free fatty acids now available in your blood, the stage is set for all those free fatty acids to be gobbled up and stored by your fat cells. This is the equivalent of becoming the next Goodyear blimp, so it is imperative to use caution at your holiday meals when it comes to combining fat (particularly saturated and trans fats) and carbs (particularly starches and refined sugars). In general, it is best to choose one over the other. But since most people crave carbs at their free meals, it is essential to keep the fat low at this meal. Want mashed potatoes? Well then be sure to skip the gravy and go easy on the butter. These small changes can literally save you hundreds, even thousands of calories, and more importantly will prevent your holiday feasts from creating the optimal fat-storing environment that will set you back from achieving your health and fitness goals.

You CAN BEAT the HOLIDAY FEAST BEAST!!

New Orleans in December...

Last week we get snow, this week the weather is in the 70s.  And for the FitFunCamp session last night, it was about as HUMID as it can get.  But that was no obstacle for the brave souls who have been coming out rain or shine (within reasonable limits - no need risking illness or injury if the weather is THAT atrocious, as it was last week with the tropical rainfall).  Yesterday's session was a bit of a curveball for the group.  I changed up the routine a bit and included more running/sprinting than usual.  So after a warmup of dynamic stretches, we ended up doing 3 full sets, each one including 6 repetitions of sprint-jog-drill, with the drills alternating between leg strength, arm/shoulder strength, and ab work.  For example, the group started off with a sprint (about 40 meters), turned around and jogged back, immediately completed a set of mountain-climbers, and went directly into the next sprint, after which they jogged and did a set of pushups, followed by another sprint, another jog, and a set of leg-raises.  That combination was repeated twice in a row for one full set.  The next two sets were similar, but included different drills for arms/legs/abs.  A cool-down of static stretches concluded the evening's activities.  Great workout all around!  

On a side note, yesterday was also a brutal reminder that we do live in the kind of climate where we must wage a full out war on mosquitoes all year long.  The little blood-suckers won the battle last night, but rest assured we'll be more prepared next time.  Until then, happy holidays and happy training!!!

~Phil Glotser

Finding the balance...

~Coach Phil Glotser

Balance! Such an important concept, in my opinion, in life and in fitness. I'll save the philosophizing for another blog post, but let me say that we had a great workout yesterday (Wednesday, Dec 3rd) in Metairie focusing on just that - balance. Exercises involving balance fine tune your proprioceptive senses and make all sorts of muscles fire for various intensities and durations as you struggle to just maintain a pose. Adding motion and then strength elements makes for a terrific whole-body workout. Plus, there's something childishly fun about wobbling around trying to stand or hop on one leg!! I hope everyone who was out there yesterday can vouch for that. The weather was agreeable again, so there was no need to move around too much to stay warm. Plus, everyone seemed particularly motivated to be exercising with the guilt of Thanksgiving feasting egging them on. That's ok... it's as good a motivation to get re-started as any! However, let me reassure everybody - there is no weight that was gained so quickly that can't be lost just as quickly. Long term weight gain comes from a complex combination of factors, like daily eating habits, activity patterns, nutritional choices, etc (all important factors to consider in long term weight loss, but that's a topic for another day). So don't worry about those holiday pounds... get back to your routine, keep coming out to FitFunCamp, and you'll be fine. See you next time!

Dealing with a Setback

Read Coach Phillip's blog post, Dealing with a Setback, which everyone can relate to in some form or fashion.

View Blog post by clicking here Dealing with a setback...

Last November workout

~Coach Phil Glotser

I've been doing a lot of coaching lately, so it was a welcome break on Sunday (Nov 30th) to be coached myself.   Coach Brad put us through an excellent workout out in Destrehan, with pulsating lunges, pushups, crunches, sprints, and (my favorite drill from the workout) "spider-man" crawls. I capped off the day for the group with a set of abs.  The weather was not extremely cooperative, as it was quite chilly and windy, but we warmed up in no time.  Though I was pleased to see everyone being smart and dressing warm.  It's always easier to remove layers than not have enough in the first place... It was great to meet and workout with everyone!  I enjoyed it, hope you all did too.  Take care and stay active!!