I Promised Myself I Wouldn’t Do This…

…but with the myriad of people who will be feasting on such devilish delights as mashed potatoes and gravy, apple pie, rolls and butter, and stuffing, I decided I would give you a few ideas to help you keep off the feasting 15:

1. Do something physical before dinner- Try and get outside and move around a bit. It doesn’t have to be anything crazy but activity will help burn off a couple of calories to make room for the day of gluttony. Some examples would be hill sprints, burpee countdowns, complexes, jumping rope or just walking with your family.
2. Stay away from the empty calories- You’re already going to be consuming enough food for two, why add to the calories with soda and juices? Limit yourself to water or red wine (in my opinion, the benefits are worth the calories).
3. Eat a lot of the bird- Eating some extra protein can help you feel fuller and also store less of the calories because of the Thermic Effect of Food. This will help you eat a bit less, but you might want to take a bit of a nap afterwards.
4. Spread the food out- Try and graze around the food table instead of piling the food on your plate like you are storing for a cold winter. Spreading it out can help boost up the metabolism a bit and give your stomach some time to alert your brain its full before it makes you wish you were dead.
5. Don’t worry!- Remember, the holiday’s are for fun and family. Don’t obsess on the food and fear for the future. You can always go back and burn off the extra blubber in the New Year.

Did I leave anything out? Got any other ideas for what you can do to ward of the weight gain? Let me know in the comments!

In my next installment, I will give you some training ideas to help you get rid of whatever you gain these next couple of weeks and try and keep up your motivation and focus to stay in shape!

Until next time, stay strong.

What Should I Do?

I get a lot of questions from people along the lines of “What do you do when you workout?” First off, at the risk of sounding like and elitist, I do not “workout”; I train. Chase Karnes wrote a great article here if you don’t know what I’m talking about. Secondly, I keep things pretty simple. There are really only 8 different things you need to do to stay in shape:

1. Run
2. Jump
3. Climb
4. Push
5. Pull
6. Throw
7. Carry
8. Hold

You don’t need any fancy equipment to do these, just some dumbbells, barbells, medicine balls, cables, or bands. Most of these can be found at any gym. If they don’t have them, you may need to rethink where you train. Even then, if you don’t have these tools, you can use your bodyweight for an effective workout.

The reason behind this post is to just point out that training does not need to be some super reverse engineered Eastern European periodization scheme. Just keeping it to basic movements and progressively increasing your weight, sets, and reps will work wonders for your gains.

Got anything else you think should be on the list? Let me know in the comments!

Until next time, be strong.