I get alot of email from athletes saying what should my bodyfat be? alot of people are obsessed about their weight and their bodyfat loss percentage to the point they measure it every other day.

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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...

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Just like having a workout and drinking the post workout shake, christmas parties and alcohol goes hand in hand. No matter if its the family gathering or end of your christmas do, that glass (or 2 or more) of wine beer or other spirit seems to magically land in your hand whenever you enter the party. Ofcourse you accept as you don't want to appear rude or lacking the christmas spirit. But it is that 'spirit' that could land you that extra 5kg over christmas - which is about the average most people gain over the festive period!

So what could be the source of the extra weight gain?

Assuming your eating plan is pretty good over christmas and you're keeping a reasonable cardio and weight training regime over the silly season, the main ingredients that could possibly cause you to gain weight is alcohol - particularly if you're consuming too much of it.

With seven calories per gram and a single unit of alcohol weighing 8g, alcohol is one of the greatest hidden sources of calories in our diets. For example, that tiny splash of vodka in the bottom of the glass contains 56 calories before you even think of adding a mixer, while a pint of beer weighs in at 175 calories, a 440ml can of premium lager at 260, and a 175ml glass of red wine (the standard pub measurement) at 115 calories.

Even if you stick within the recommended maximum alcohol intake (14 units per week for women and 21 a week for men), you could be adding 800 to 1200 liquid calories to your calorie intake! And they aren’t calories you can simply ‘burn off.’

Why is this? It’s because alcohol cannot be used directly by the muscles, and instead travels straight into the bloodstream, from where it has to be metabolised before the body can make use of more preferable fuel sources, such as carbohydrate or fat. Fat-burning and protein synthesis are lowered by as much as 20% while the body is digesting and metabolising alcohol.

It takes roughly an hour for each unit of alcohol to be metabolised. Consume it too regularly and research shows that alcohol will suppress fat oxidation and promote fat storage – the exact opposite of what you want! And – even worse – this excess fat tends to accumulate around the waist, thereby creating the proverbial beer belly.

It’s not just the drinks themselves that could be expanding your waistline, but the lifestyle habits that tend to go with them. A study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that a single pre-lunch wine or beer can result in an increased calorie intake over the next 24 hours! Researchers don’t know whether this is due to an increase in appetite or a decrease in willpower and inhibitions, or a combination of the two. But most of us are familiar with that ‘Oh, what the hell!’ feeling after a few drinks, and have found ourselves chomping down chips or that greasy kebab to help ‘mop up’ the excess booze!

 

Drinking and exercise The other way booze might be affecting your body is by hampering your workouts. If you exercise the morning after a drinking session, you may experience a higher perception of effort, palpitations and a lower exercise capacity – so you probably won’t end up working as hard or as long as you normally would. (Also, you shouldn’t force yourself to exercise with a hangover as a punishment to yourself anyway. You are best off resting and drinking plenty of water or isotonic drinks until you feel better.) Equally, it’s not wise to drink straight after a heavy training session, as alcohol has been shown to interfere with muscle repair and recovery.

Don't be a party pooper
Of course, you don't have to be a total party pooper and not touch a drop of alcohol at all at your christmas do. With some planning and will power it’s quite possible to drink moderately and remain fit and healthy over the festive period.

But if you are watching your weight, or attempting to lose body fat, it’s worth keeping a drink diary to see how many glasses of wine did pass your lips at the various functions you go to each day and week. Ideally you should give yourself a 2 glass limit as this won't interfere with your calorie too much. You can make that second glass go further by having a half/half with soda water. However, if you're not a wine drinker but spirits are your thing..and worse alcopops!! The only thing I can say is DON'T!! Alcopops are calorie laden, sure they taste nice but you'd have to do at least 2 hours cardio to get rid of one bottle. Instead, have the worse of 2 evils and drink some Gin and Tonic (light tonic) or Vodka Tonic as these are lesser in calories.

Have fun! The focus of Christmas related events are enjoyment, celebration and connecting with friends and family. Its ok to have a few drinkies at the events you go to but don't deprive yourself and end up at the other end of the scale and be a drunken mess! Remember, anything is okay if it is consumed in moderation. It's not the treats that do the damage but the healthy lifestyle habits that are neglected.

Happy Celebrating!
Lisa

Don't let Christmas break you! Well Christmas is almost here but it doesn't mean you have to break your waistline! Some of you may be taking a well earned break and enjoying a few days or 2 week holiday. With so much time on your hands you may be tempted to indulge in the finer things over the weekend and let up on your good eating and training regime. To help you stay on track this Christmas, here are some tips to keep you from blowing out your diet!

Stick to your Routine.
The holidays are great aren't they? You can sleep in, relax and take your time doing whatever you want. Your normal routine of preparing food goes out the door and because you're home, you tend to graze throughout the day - or forget to eat at normal times. You probably tend to get hungrier so you find treat foods to snack on to fill you up and by the end of the weekend you've gained a couple of kgs! Before you get to that stage, make sure you stick as close to your normal snack and meal times as possible. Sure you can have the occasional treat or glass of wine but it's important you eat the nutritious meals you've been doing all your working week too.

Keep trigger foods out of the pantry!
At a time when tasty Christmas food and chocolates are all around us, it's hard to control ourselves sometimes. So the best plan of attack maybe to keep the 'trigger' foods ie the high calorie foods that we can't stop eating out of the house.

Bread is very easy to eat and once you start, some of us can't stop. Other people find chocolate, lollies and ice cream are their trigger foods. Instead of having these in the house, try stocking low calorie alternatives such as yoghurt or fruit to curb the sweet tooth.

Keep busy. Idle minds and bodies can cause you to eat so the best way to overcome this is to keep busy. Use the time you have to catch up on the odd jobs around the house. Move your furniture around, do the gardening, redecorate the kids room or even go on that long walk you said you'd do when you have the time. Once you're busy, you won't even think about food. And when you get hungry from all this activity, you'll of course be reaching for a healthy snack such as a protein bar or shake right??!!!

Be prepared when travelling.
If you're lucky enough to be travelling this Christmas make sure you take a stash of healthy snacks with you. There's nothing worse than being hungry. When you're starving you'll go for that stale sandwich, cold pie or a chocolate bar or 2 at the service station - so be prepared. Take some protein bars, protein powder, nuts, hard boiled eggs or rice crackers with you so you won't have to reach for the high calorie food.

Get rid of waste
Some of you maybe hosting a lunch or dinner for your friends and family. No doubt they'll be plenty of leftover potatoes, delicious treats and array of meats that didn't get eaten. During the dinner, you've been good at eating your protein and didn't overindulge on your carbs. And you didn't even have dessert. Don't let the temptation of having leftovers in the fridge be your downfall! If there are leftovers, give it away to your guests - especially the dessert. And if there are no takers then throw it away. OK it might be wasteful but it's better to waste than for it to sit on your waist!!

Be Generous
If you've been lucky (or unlucky) and been given lots of Christmas choccies then I'd recommend you give some away. Keep the most tastiest one you like and let someone else have the calories of the rest.

Dinner Party Tips Dinner parties can provide the biggest blow-out of your diet so I'd recommend taking these precautions: If buffet style, sit furtherest away from the buffet table so you won't go back to fill up as often. Fill up on protein and vegetables before indulging in the treats so you won't overdo the sweet stuff. Limit yourself to a couple of glasses of nice wine as alcohol contains lots of sugar calories.

Getting Back On Track
OK, so by the end of the holiday you may not have followed the above recommendations.
You've broken your diet, but it's not the end of the world. We're all human and sometimes we succumb to food glorious food and overindulge on it. However, don't let one bad binging day lead onto 2 or heavens above 3 days! Get back into your routine and you'll soon be back into your condition before you let your mind wander. If you're finding it hard to return to a sensible eating and training plan, seek out your friends or instructor and they'll help you get back on track.

Hope you find these tips helpful and have a Merry Christmas everyone!
from Lisa @ Go Figure