Even the most prepared individuals seem to struggle during the holidays. The odds are, you will gain weight over the holidays (average is 8-10 pounds), so wouldn’t it be a good idea to head into the holiday season armed with some tips that could keep you from gaining the extra pounds in the first place?
Here are 10 Holiday Eating Tips to help you fight off that holiday weight gain:
1. Exercise! If you’re already committed to exercising, keep going! Just 1-2 workouts/week will help you maintain your weight. Don’t let the busy season break you from a routine that’s hard to get back to. If you’re not exercising, simply start by walking 20-30 minutes each day.
2. Rest up! Did you know that on average, adults who didn’t get a good night’s sleep will consume an extra 300 calories and choose higher fat foods the next day? So, if you plan to attend a party or event, be sure to get at least 7 hours of sleep the night before.
3. Bring a healthy dish or two to with you. This way if you’re faced with poor options you at least have something healthy to eat.
4. Eat a small, healthy meal before going out. If you are used to prepping your meals....Keep doing this. You don't really have complete control when you go to family parties or going out with friends. You do have control over what happens before you leave
5. Survey the buffet table first. Know what healthy options are there. Don’t feel compelled to take a “little of everything.”
6. Start with the healthiest items first. Studies show that you consume the most food on your “first pass” through the buffet line, so load your plate with healthy items like salad, lean protein and vegetables.
7. Choose a salad or dessert plate instead of a dinner plate. The average calories consumed at a holiday dinner or buffet is 3,000! If you use a smaller plate, you’ll take smaller portions and eat about 40% less.
8. Take small bites and eat slowly. You’ll trick your brain into thinking you’ve eaten more than you have and you’ll feel full faster.
9. Go easy on the alcohol – it’s loaded with carbs, sugar and calories. Plus, the more you drink, the more likely you are to take on an “Oh, the heck with it!” attitude when it comes to eating. Drink a lot of water instead!
10. Remember why you’re there. Did you go to a party to share the holidays with friends and family, or to eat? You can eat at home, so socialize! Station yourself as far away from the food table/kitchen as possible. Engage people in conversation, mingle, laugh and enjoy!
If you want some extra guidance and support during this holiday season, contact us and we can set up a FREE consultation. Click HERE to set up a time.
The holidays are always a main focus/dread for people when they think of weight gain. People are always wondering how to stop the holiday weight gain and are stressed out over what are they going to eat, is it too much etc. It is very stressful and chaotic time to begin with and then you add the stress of losing all the results of your hard work.
I don’t believe people just magically lose their motivation during the holidays, you lose your momentum.
You have worked hard over the course of the year. Became better at your major lifts, lost some inches, began to eat better and form better habits.......ALL HARD WORK AND COMMITMENT!!!
So what happens during the holiday season?
Our motivation is always there....Our momentum seems to slow down due to all the other things going on.
Your time will be at a premium, your stress levels may be a little bit higher than normal, and those things can legitimately effect your momentum.
Here are 4 steps you can take to maintain your momentum:
1. Plan your workout schedule NOW.
Seriously, if at all possible don’t play it by ear during the holidays. I’m going to maintain my schedule to a T, and make sure I get every training session in during that time. I may have to do it earlier or later than normal because of family commitments, but I’m going to make it happen.
2. Pick a mini goal between now and the end of the year.
This might go back to the motivation side of things, but pick a mini goal. Is there a Santa Shuffle, or Turkey Trot you want to run, walk, or ruck? Is there a little getaway where you want to look and feel your best with your friends and family? Is there a huge weightlifting meet the week after Thanksgiving? That mini goal can help hold you accountable internally, while your gym family at Strive can hold you accountable externally.
3. Join us for our HOLIDAY ACCOUNTABILITY GROUP
Starting after Thanksgiving and running through the New Year can be the tough time. Family parties, staff parties and get together's with friends can get overwhelming. Here at Strive, we put on a HOLIDAY ACCOUNTABILITY GROUP during the season of chaos. This group is a lifeline for many people during this time to get a hold on the holidays and is a resource for healthy recipes and new habits. LEARN MORE HERE
4. Commit to a de-stressed holiday season
This is a big ask I always tell myself before the holidays that this year I won’t get stressed about family member X, or if there are enough desserts.
Repeat it with me…there are always enough desserts, there are always enough desserts- it can be our holiday mantra. Enjoy the time with your family, or the relaxation of no work that day, and let the stress roll off your back.
Try out the 4 part Momentum maintainers. Your motivation is still there, just keep rolling!
Committed to your success,
Derek
With all things equal, the stronger an athlete is the better they will perform. That’s why proper strength training is so important for athletic development. When youth athletes perform strength training workouts designed to increase their overall athleticism, the result is better sports performances... no matter what sport they play.
Many youth athletes, coaches and parents make the mistake of trying to specialize for one sport and train specifically for that sport...
Instead, these youth athletes should be trained simply to be a better athlete. By doing this, there is a carry-over to any sport they play. More on this in a bit...
Youth athletes are any athletes from 6-18 years old. This is a very specific time in their lives in terms of growth, development and maturity. This is an opportunity to train them for complete athletic development. The strength training at this stage should lay a foundation of athleticism to help them improve their sports performances... for any sport!
With this in mind, here are 8 strength training tips for coaches and parents who want to improve their youth ath- lete’s sports success:
#1 Train Like An Athlete... Not a Bodybuilder
One of the biggest mistakes youth athletes make when trying to get stronger for sports is to train like a bodybuilder. Bodybuilders are trying to build bigger muscles for the sake of it. Athletes need to build lean muscle that makes them stronger and faster during sports. If youth athletes just start “lifting weights” without regard for developing complete athleticism, the result can be inflexible muscles and imbalanced muscles that actually slow them down and hurt their sports performances.
The posterior chain a group of muscles located on the back of your body. They are the low back, glutes, ham- strings and calves. They work together to help you run fast, and move quickly. So many youth athletes never maximize their sports potential because these muscles aren’t fully developed. When you build a foundation of strength in the posterior chain your athletes will have immediate sports performance results.
There’s a difference between getting strong with weight lifting and getting “functionally strong”. Functional strength exercises are those that usually involve more than one muscle group at a time. This allows the body to work towards improved athleticism.......(Please no more BICEP CURLS AND KICK BACKS coaches!!!!)
These types of exercises also require more mind/muscle connection due to the athletic requirement of functional exercises. These exercises don’t require heavy lifting but will get you strong for sports. Functional training also increases the strength of the stabilizing muscles in the hips and shoulders, resulting in a decrease of non-impact sports injuries.
Think of the core as a tube that starts under your chest and at your waist and goes around your body. This core area is crucial to long term sports development. By properly incorporating core exercises you will develop increased sports power throughout the body. The core is the link between the feet and hands. One of the most important areas of the core for complete athlete development are the Internal Oblique muscles. By developing these inner core muscles there will be a nice improvement in athletic performance.
Although many youth athletes are specializing on a particular sport, be sure they don’t get sport-specific with their training... yet. You see, building a complete youth athlete is like building a house. The first thing you do when you build a house is lay down a solid foundation. A house built on a poor foundation will crumble and fall eventually. Think of youth athlete training as performed for laying a foundation of strength, speed and overall athleticism.
The muscles of the body work together to perform various movements. No matter what sport you play or what skills are required to play it, many muscles throughout the body are working together to make these skills possible.
A youth athlete should learn how to perform each of the body’s basic movement patterns: Squat, Bend, Lunge, Push, Pull and Twist......And do them well (especially at a younger age)
When setting up a strength training program for youth athletes, I like to use strength training exercises to accom- plish multiple things. One day per week they will work on speed and power, a second training day will work on conditioning and finally a third training day to focus on strength and muscle. Three days per week of specific athlete development is perfect. Any more is counter-productive.
One big mistake that many coaches make is separating the workouts for their athletes by body parts. In other words, they are setting up the training as a bodybuilder would with separate training days for chest/back, legs, shoulders/arms. Please don’t do this with your youth athletes. Splitting the body parts up and training in this fashion will not allow youth athletes to reach full potential, and might actually hurt their performances over time. Split routine workouts also lead to muscular imbalances and nagging injuries. Full body workouts that allow training the body as a unit mimic the requirements of sports performance.
To learn more about our training seasons, click HERE
Committed to your success,
Derek Ledwidge
Fad diets do work, at first. And then the results slowly taper off until they rebound and you gain the weight back.
Does this sound all too familiar?
So what really is the deal with this crap??
Simple. Fad diets do the same thing, in many different ways.
This thing is tricking you into eating less and usually, not enough to sustain results.
People generally cut carbs, but what really happens is they cut overall calories. Because they are cutting carbs they end up eating less, plain and simple. More of a deficit in calories equals more weight loss.
This is all well and good for the short term.....That is until your metabolism adapts to the decrease in food..
This is when it becomes harder and harder to sustain the results....Congrats......You have hit a plateau.
So what is the general response??
I am going to eat less (because clearly I am eating more than I was when I started to lose weight)....And I am going to increase my cardio...
Repeat after me....This is a mistake....
So what is the answer?
BALANCE.
You shouldn’t have a diet dominant in any specific nutrient and by that I do not mean that something shouldn’t have a larger percentage of your calories, because I do believe protein should have the biggest percentage.
My usually recommendation for starting is a 40/30/30 or 40/25/35 split (protein/carbs/fat). This gives you a good balance.
But back to the fad diet subject…
These low-calorie diets aren’t healthy for many reasons. But the main ones are that our body needs calories to function. Calories are the human body’s fuel source, for every single activity and function we make.
So yeah, these fad diets do work… at first. They give you a caloric deficit which allows you to lose weight, but this usually only lasts 4-6 weeks.....Insert a typical lose 20 lbs in 6 weeks challenge
Look at the diet titles that have timelines… Its usually a 30 day slim down, 28 day rapid fat loss, 2 months to shredded, and so on. They all stop, at most, by the 6 week marker.
Don't get me wrong, here at STRIVE FITNESS AND PERFORMANCE, we have our fair share of 6 week, 8 week and 30 day challenges....but we tell you right from the start, this is the beginning.
Will you make a HUGE change?! Absolutely! But it only carries you into the lifestyle habits and changes you must keep making to incorporate a fit lifestyle.
You see, fad diets have one main goal… MONEY. They know they can sell a one time package of their diet plan and you’ll probably BUY IT AGAIN a couple of months later when you gain some weight back because… well… it worked, didn’t it??!
So my point in this article, more like this rant, is to show you that the fads are a waste of time, money, energy and your emotions.
Don’t fall into the trap,
CREATE HABITS
EMBRACE the healthy lifestyle you actually want to achieve.
The goal of a diet, a healthy one, is to lose body fat or weight while maintaining as many calories as possible. So yeah, it’s not going to happen quick and you may not get absolutely rapid fat loss in less than a month.
But what’s more important to you?
Lose 25lbs in a month and then gain half or more back in the next month?
Lose 25lbs in 4 months and never, ever, see those 25lbs of fat again?
We all know it is the second answer, as it should be.
So here’s my advice before closing off…
Eat enough calories to FUEL your body, this means enough food to truly CRUSH workouts. This is a perfect indicator we tell our clients here at Strive. If you are dying during your workouts....You probably need to eat a little bit more.
Eat ALL types of nutrients. Proteins, carbs, and fats that are coming from natural whole sources like animal products and fresh produce.
Don’t rely on supplements, cleanses, TV ads, or any “Get Fit Quick” schemes you find for a bargain. Instead, invest some actual money in yourself and in your health, find a trustworthy gym and coach, and create excellent habits that lead to a “Lifestyle” rather than a “Result”.
Find your LIFESTYLE by thinking long term investment.
Committed to your success,
Derek
I train scores of student-athletes, here at Strive Fitness and Performance who are “products” of their high school Strength & Conditioning programs. Unfortunately, most of what I observe is subpar at best.... poor technique galore
Based on my experience and observation and discussions with my high school athletes, their parents and coaches; here are some of the problems with high school Strength & Conditioning programs:
Lack of Knowledge
Strength & Conditioning is not rocket science, but it is (or should be) exercise science and training should be evidence-based. Many high school programs are based on workouts read in a magazine, body building workouts done by the coach or crossfit workouts that the coach read.
Inadequate Program Design/Management
Designing and managing a high school Strength & Conditioning program requires more than YouTube, Google, and other programs’ training templates. There are several factors – including energy systems, demands and movement patterns of the sport, etc. that must be taken into consideration.
Inefficient Time Management
Too little work and too much rest. Lots of standing around watching, waiting, and socializing. Even more texting on phones
One Size Fits All
I’ve known of programs who use stuff like P90X or Insanity to get everyone doing the same thing at the same time. Basically, the coach is looking to get the team to exercise. This would be a great strategy if the high school football team consisted of adult men and women trying to improve their level of fitness. Instead, athletes should TRAIN to become better athletes, not just WORKOUT because that is better than nothing.
This is even worse, when it comes to FEMALE ATHELTES. So many times female athletes are just thrown in the mix with the footaball team and left to their own devices.
Lack of Proper Warmup
Very little time spent doing programmed, dynamic (movement-based) warmup exercises. Too many programs still warming up by stretching, and even doing very little of that.
No Real Plan for Progression
Most programs don’t have a good plan for making their programs progressive (increasing intensity) because they don’t understand the rules and guidelines that govern this process. Instead they are just working out.
Poor Understanding of Energy System Training
The energy system demands of the sport must be taken in to consideration when designing a Strength & Conditioning program. Power sports require programming that incorporates short bursts of high-intensity activity, while endurance sports programs have different needs. I know of several area basketball and volleyball programs whose cardio-metabolic training and fitness testing consists of a mile run. Think about the demands and movement patterns of those two sports (especially volleyball) and let that sink in for a moment…
Inappropriate Exercise Selection
I’m not sure how some of these programs choose their athletes’ exercises. Most of these programs pay little attention to areas like joint stability, landing mechanics, and overall injury prevention. Focus on opposing muscle groups is often overlooked (for example, many programs love exercises like squats and leg presses, but pay little attention to posterior chain – glute/hamstring – development). Even more focus on small muscles like biceps and triceps.
Poor Technique
Unfortunately, you have to know and understand (and be able to instruct, demonstrate, and correct) proper technique to be able to appropriately coach it. I train lots of athletes who come to me with poor exercise technique (arching the back on the bench press, poor squatting mechanics, etc.) – which can be dangerous – who tell me their form is taught and encouraged by their coaches, because most coaches just care that they are adding weight....(That means they are stronger right????)
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