December 2020 Newsletter

4 Strategies for “Damage Control” Over the Holidays

By: Andrew D.

The Christmas holidays are undoubtedly a time of celebration, where family and friends get together and enjoy the festive cheer. But for some, the Christmas Spirit is dampened by the thought of having to enter the New Year carrying the excess weight often gained around this time of year.

The average weight gain over the Christmas and New Year period is in around 10lbsGuess what! It does not have to be this way. Below are 5 strategies that can limit some of that damage control and set you up for success come 2021.

1. Plan!

At Fighting Fit, we use the “90% rule” with all our clients and their nutrition plans. If you are consuming 5 meals per day (which you need to keep your metabolism on point) then that equals 35 meals per week. Over the two-week festive period, this totals as 70 meals.

A quick calculation tells us that 90% of 70 = 63. This means that out of 70 meals consumed over the two-week period, 63 should be healthy, nutritious meals used to change your body. The remaining 7 meals are your “splurges”, where you can let loose and enjoy your favorite foods without guilt or hesitation. Once you have worked out your “splurges”, get out a calendar and mark where you want to use up your 7 splurges over the two weeks

2. Keep a Food Diary

If we are asked to recall how much food we have eaten in a day, we tend to give a rough estimate.Keeping a written food diary makes us accountable for just how much food we’re consuming and can help us make better decisions. If you find yourself consuming a chocolate or biscuit , grab your diary and make a note.

On reflection after 1 week,  it will make you realize that you’re not “hungry” when you make that trip to the kitchen, it’s a bad habit that you have created out of boredom. A food diary brings your subconscious to a conscious level and helps you realize that you do not really want that extra portion because your body has already had enough.

3. Keep Training!

This is NOT the time of year to drop the ball, keep grinding! And if you do not currently train, no better time to start. You can have 7 splurges over the two-week period and get away with it because you are still challenging your body with intense workouts and keeping your metabolism high and revving.

Remember, using resistance training (training with weights) as part of a well-designed fat loss program helps to deplete muscle glycogen levels and increase insulin sensitivity, meaning that a lot of the carbs and “bad” food you eat over Christmas time end up getting used to help you recover from your workouts.

4. Do not Sabotage Yourself!

So, we have already planned out our splurges and things are going well. We are eating a nutritious diet of lean proteins, fruit, and vegetables 90% of the time. Then suddenly, you have fallen off the wagon, and you have eaten half a pack of Oreos. How do you react? Unfortunately, a lot of people say, “That’s it – I am throwing in the towel”, may as well just give up now wait till next year. But really this is only a massive over reaction over a fixable mistake

Think about it. Imagine you are driving down a road and one of your tires burst. You are forced to pullover. Now, do you A.) Replace the tire with a spare and get back on the road or B.) Walk around your car and burst the other 3 tires? Most people choose A – to replace the one burst tire, right? So, if you make a slip up with your diet, do you then go and blow the whole thing? Do not be so hard on yourself, keep things in perspective – if you make an error, simply get back on track again and make amends with the next meal.

      INGREDIENTS:

• 1 ½kg floury potatoes (such as Maris Piper, King Edward or Desirée), peeled and cut into halves or quarters, depending on size
• 100ml Olive Oil
•  2 tsp Smoked Paprika

      DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Add the potatoes to a pan of cold salted water, bring to a boil, then simmer for 5 mins until partly tender. Drain and steam dry for a few mins in a colander.
2. Return the potatoes to the saucepan, and add the oil, paprika and plenty of salt and pepper. Cover with a lid, shake the pan around to roughen the edges of the potatoes and thoroughly coat them in the paprika and oil. Put potatoes into a large roasting tin, making sure they are evenly spaced apart. Scrape in all the fluffy potato mess – these make the best crispy bits!
3. Roast the potatoes for 1 hr 15 mins, turning halfway, until extremely fluffy and crisp.
4. Do not overcrowd the potatoes in the roasting tin. If you do, they will begin to steam, which will stop them from going crisp.