Can you believe Christmas season is upon us already?! where has the year gone? For most of the year most of us have been working on losing fat and building muscle but...
but at no time has the pressures to fend off the fat weigh foremost on our minds (and bellies) than at Christmas.
With the onslaught of Christmas parties and family festivities, and the enticements of juicy tasty treats on offer, most of us are under pressure to stave off the fat in this silly season. Some of you may even be considering starting a radical diet or exercise plan so you look your best at your chritmas office parties but this might not be your best action plan!
Don't get radical! Anything radical that you might implement you can usually last only a short time before you burn out, whether physically or mentally, and go back to the 'bad' old ways. While you may look great up to Christmas, beware the post christmas binge as something does have to give and no matter how strong willed you maybe during the festive period, there will be a time when you'll rebound and get into the foods you 'shouldn't' have.
So before you put yourself on a harsh diet or drastic cardio and training plan, I thought I'd outline what actually happens if you do put yourself through it:
The typical 'Crash' diet
As with most things these days, everyone wants rapid results and when looking to lose weight, were no different. The problem is that rapid weight loss is unsustainable, as shown in the typical regimen below:
1. Begin diet. Calorie intake cut from 3,000 to 1,000 calories per day or even less.
2. Rapid weight loss occurs. After two weeks, weight loss is approximately 3 ½ kilos
3. Weight loss slows. After three weeks, total weight loss is either approaching or static
at 3 ½ kilos.
4. Metabolic rate slows. To conserve body resources and because the rapid weight loss has included metabolic rate boosting muscle, the body elicits the starvation response. (Metabolic rate is the bodys calorie burner; the more muscle you have, the faster you burn calories).
5. Weight loss stagnates. Weight loss halts, motivation plummets.
6. Previous eating patterns resumed. Having achieved some weight loss, original eating plan is resumed.
7. Weight increases. To guard against future famine, the body stores more food as body fat, effectively laying down more reserves as a self-protection mechanism. This is compounded by a lower metabolic rate
due to loss of muscle during the diet phase.
8. Significant weight gain occurs. After a few weeks, not only has the lost weight been
put back, but more weight has also been gained overall, resulting in the dieter ending up
heavier than before the diet began.
The Pre Christmas Action Plan. The best way to survive the pre Christmas festivities is balance. Continue with your good eating plan, presuming you have a good eating plan! one which you're allowed to have treats and enough calories so you're not craving any snack foods. If you deny yourself anything, there's more chance you will overindulge when you do have it. So if there's that special christmas food you love to eat then have some but exercise control. If you go accidentally overboard then compensate for your extra calories by doing more cardio. But don't do excess cardio just so you be bad. Do at least 30mins cardio everyday, preferably seprate to your weights to keep your metabolism ticking over.
And then there's the alcohol! alcohol is the biggest sabotage to any good eating and training plan. I'll talk more about that in the next update.
In the meantime, be good to yourself!!
Lisa Menzies