Hey everyone! Scary time of year coming up. No, not Halloween LOL, but the holidays that follow it! That's right, it's holiday season, and this is where many of us derail our diet and our training takes a back seat to holiday cheer, food, and drinks!
Let's admit it, it's HARD eating "clean" through the holidays. Granted, maybe this year will be a bit different due to the pandemic. However, I am sure that there will still be plenty of holiday parties and gatherings and reasons to have just one more sugar cookie.
So with this in mind, I thought I would give you all some helpful hints on how to enjoy the holidays without completely coming unhinged with regards to training and diet (note: If you are on the Conquest Fuel program, consult Natalie regarding holiday eating).
Ok, the first rule of thumb, and kind of easy...don't blow it out two days in a row. This is important. If you normally eat clean, and train 4-5 days a week, then don't go crazy two days or nights in a row with eating and drinking off your diet. One event, that's it, And the next day you have to eat clean again. This is tough with Thanksgiving. The night before Thanksgiving is traditionally a very busy social night. Basically everyone goes out. This year might be a little different, but it's still the night that everyone likes to party. Then the next day is Thanksgiving. And we all know how that goes. We overeat, and overeat again, and then overeat again! I'm guilty. And then if you have a big family, you have days of leftovers. So you get to have Thanksgiving dinner over and over again for a few nights...including the desserts. Hey, one of my favorite memories of Thanksgiving is having a Thanksgiving "sandwich" the next day with all the fixings. So we can all agree that one holiday cheat meal turns into at least half a dozen. So be careful this year. Have a plan, and stick to it.
Training. Train as often as you can around and on these holidays. Training hard and being fit allows us to eat holiday food, in moderation. If we regularly train hard and eat clean, our bodies will get right back on track. The tricky thing with the holidays is of course travel, and missing wods. We live in South Florida, and every year I watch a big population of Conquest leave for a month or two to be with their extended families. Some go up North, and some go to Central and South America. And upon their return, I always hear a common theme. That their training suffered. That they didn't have access to a CrossFit gym or any gym for that matter. Listen, it's easy. Google "travel wods", and you will find an abundance of wods to do off the grid. I was born in New Hampshire, and Natalie and myself travel there often, normally in summer, and enjoy the country and the mountains. There isn't a CrossFit anywhere near us. We bring our jump ropes and that's about it, and use nature as our gym. We have done handstand pushups against trees. Used boulders for box jumps. I remember once using an old swingset for pullups. And looking back, these are priceless memories. They were innovative workouts and always harder than I thought they would be. So be creative, don't use travel and the holidays as an excuse to not work out and stay fit. Use travel and your environment to be creative and crush it, especially if you can be outside.
Lastly, and super important, try and "cheat" on a day that you worked out. Meaning if you have a holiday event and you know it's time to party, try and wod that day before you go. I tell everyone this in my intro class. Cheat on a day you worked out. Our metabolism is on overdrive after we wod. For hours. If we worked out hard enough, that burn can last up to 36 hours. So your body will be able to handle the holiday food much better on a day that you worked out than if you didn't.
Alright guys, I'm gonna leave it at that. Three simple rules. Don't blow your diet more than one day in a row. Don't blow your training through the holidays, especially with travel. And if possible, always wod before you cheat!
Till next time, "strike first, strike hard, no mercy!" -Johnny Lawrence Cobra Kai Karate
