Don’t drink calories- drink water. Juices (even the ones that claim to be healthy) and special drinks all add extra empty calories to your diet. Extra calories that can increase your body fat levels and bring on Type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
If you want fruit juice- don’t drink juice- have fruit.
Do make sure you center your exercise routine around a program of short but intense weight training movements. You will build muscle that will not only make you look better and increase your strength and mobility but also increase your metabolism and help you keep the weight off long term.
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day- but dinner is the one that tends to do the most damage. Always have dinner planned and food available. If you get home at night and don’t have anything wholesome to eat you are far more likely to blow your diet with something quick and fattening.
Understand that it will get progressively harder as you lose more weight. Keep in mind that our bodies simply were not designed to lose weight but to gain weight. So as your body fat levels drop, hormones trigger an increase in appetite which makes you want to eat even more.
To combat the urge to eat more as you lose more body fat focus on a high intensity weight training program to help you build muscle so you can eat more and not gain weight.
So, you have worked your butt off all year, there has been plenty of blood, sweat and tears. Your eating has been immaculate and your abstinence from alcohol should qualify you for a sainthood! You have squatted, pressed, rowed and burpeed your way through the year.
And now the day has arrived, the Christmas party is here and you slip into that little black dress, or that slim fit shirt. And God dam it you look good.
Before you step out the door you are wondering what will be your drink of choice for the evening. You have heard probably on a very reliable platform, like facebook, that vodka and water is the least caloric drink. Or, should you go for the high antioxidant red wine, pinot noir would be the optimum choice right? Beer is definitely out, but maybe guiness because it makes you more full and less likely to eat a kebab on the way home?
Well the answer is…. all of the above!!!
What??? The truth is if you are planning on having 6 plus drinks at your Christmas party then it really wont matter which drink you are having. Because lets face it, it is more about the quantity than the quality. Do you really think having diet soda with your 8 glasses of rum is really going to make any difference? NO!
The best advice I can give you is…
Drink whatever you want, slow down, pace yourself, have a meal before you go out and enjoy yourself. As long as you don’t binge drink every night in the next two weeks you should still be in great shape come the New Year.
Oh and if you could stop asking me which is the best drink to have at your Christmas party that would be good too…
Merry Christmas
Matt
Get enough sleep. Numerous studies have linked lack of sleep to difficulty in losing weight. Keep in mind that it isn’t just about how many hours you get but the regularity of those hours. So try to sleep at the same times.
Make sure you eat most of your food earlier in the day as eating most of your calories later in the day can increase body fat stores even if you don’t eat that much overall for the day.
Life doesn’t revolve around convenience. Losing weight and getting into shape means changing your lifestyle and making some sacrifices here and there.
