Heavy metal, christmas cookies and Japanese economics

12/21

Heavy metal, Christmas cookies and Japanese economics.

Here we are only a few days away from a holiday that is infused with green and red icing on cupcakes, cookies, and various other sweets. We all know that a lean body is not fueled with sweets, but come on now its Christmas. Everyone and their mother is going to be shoving all the homemade or store bought confections in your face until your belly explodes, and that BEFORE DINNER. Well I undestand not everyone has a will made of tungsten or stainless steel so im not here to tell you not to indulge at all. That would be ridiculous. I know even myself will want a little bit of my moms cupcake cheesecakes?.. So what I am here to do is give some recommendations on how to make the holidays work and not get stressed out about eating a cookie here and there. Remember first of all, if you are on a nutrition plan to lose fat, it is a LIFESTYLE change and one day is not going to hurt you in the long run. You should be to the point now that you don?t have to eat 24 cookies before dinner. If you are training hard and correctly your body should tell you that a few is enough and 24 is overkill. To hold back on every little thing and never treat yourself to some of lifes little pleasures, will only make you ravenous for then soon and you wont be able to control it. Id rather have ONE cookie every now and then, than to go 10 weeks without any sweets and finally break down and not be able to stop eating a gallon of ice cream. Remember were trying to keep our blood sugar stable not spiking . One cookie for dessert along with a meal isn?t going to have nearly the effect on our blood sugar that a plate of them by themselves is.

Here is what I am going to do during Christmas this year, since I am on a nutrition plan to lose some fat for a few photoshoots in a month.

Make sure you hit the gym on the days your going to be indulging in higher calorie or higher carb foods. Make sure you do weight training with higher reps than you may normally do. I recommend a full body workout with multiple sets of 15-20 reps for each body part. This will create lower muscle glycogen resulting in a place for those extra carbs to go. Id rather take them into my muscle for fuel than to store as fat.
Eat several small meals before the big family get together. This will keep you satiated so you wont be starving for 5 hours and not be able to control yourself at the larger meal.
Make sure if you do eat sweets, lower the carbohydrate portion of the meal so your tank ( muscle glycogen ) wont overflow. Eat a lean protein source, good fibrous veggies and a healthy fat with the family meal. Have the sweets as dessert with the meal so the fiber fat and protein, will slow the release of glucose into the blood stream to prevent a large blood sugar spike signaling an insulin surge.
Give your self a limit, on sweets and alcohol. Hold to your guns . You don?t have to feel guilty because Aunt Jessica made her famous brownies and wants you to have seconds or thirds!!!
Limit alcohol consumption. Remember alcohol is empty calories and gets metabolized quickly to fat cells and the large food meal is left to get stored also. Its simple to get thousands of calories by drinking beers and eating fatty sweets, without even realizing it. Im just sayin??..
Watch for triggers. I there is a major stressor going to be present, try to limit it. If you have a problem with dark chocolate fudge or Uncle Tim, limit your exposure to them. Don?t sit next to the fudge tray all night and try to not eat any of it. Don?t Argue with Tim about the Bengals/Browns.
Remember if you are on a nutrition plan, it is YOUR choice. You have to deal with peoples criticism about eating Healthy. You know everyone will. You have to be strong to get through holidays at the in laws that don?t understand anything about eating healthy or what you have to do to compete in a figure/ bodybuilding show. We all know its not just working out. But they don?t and they may never get it.
Plan ahead. Try to stick to your plan as much as you can but if your turkey isn?t 145 grams worth, don?t sweat it. If the sweet potato, has a bit of brown sugar on it, IT isn?t the end of the world. DON?T let it stress you out more that missing a mortgage payment. Sometimes relaxing and eating a little more of what you want can get those stress hormones down and your metabolism stoked. Ive actually lost fat by indulging in foods that weren?t on my plan. ITS ONE DAY NOT A WEEK REMEMBER!!!!
BIZG ONE HERE>>>>>>>> DON?T EAT YOUR FILL at dinner and wait two hours to eat dessert. Chances are then you will overeat the dessert and cause a huge insulin surge by eating refined carbs by themselves. Which will in turn make you hungry for more . So then there goes that plate of cookies at midnight mom sent home with you?.. I see this all the time. My wifes family just wont understand why I want dessert as soon as im done with dinner. Im more likely to eat a small piece of pie then , rather than wait til im hungry again in an hour and a half and want four pieces with ice cream on top??this is the truth. Happens every holiday. Usually im on a strict nutrition plan for a competition in march during Christmas and I hve to be really good. I realize that?s not how everyone is or can be. So this time im gonna be a little bit like a normal person. Think of it as a reward for hard work, but also as a refuel day. Get back to the gym or training with even more energy and intensity than you did before. It should be easy you?ll have a full glycogen load in your muscles.
HAVE FUN WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS. Make these times together count. There are many people out there who will not have that chance. Share your love, and be there for your family, friends and whoever needs you.
Oh and by the way if you?re a figure competitor or bodybuilder wo happens to be at one of these feasts, SUCK IT UP ! Remember there is always competitors out there who arent cheating and they will probably look better than you come contest time?.. JUST KIDDING !, but hey you did make that decision didn?t you, so quit whining about the damn cake!

Till next time you all are wonderful and I hope you have a great Christmas or whatever holiday you are celebrating.

Joe