Hit the weight loss reboot button and recover after the holidays!
We all wait for this special time of year! Oh… it can be a joyful, yet turmoildtuaous period of mental mind war, spent between dreading the outcome that comes from giving into temptation, yet relishing in the thought of it. Yes, we’re talking about the holidays, specifically holiday food! Those irresistible, warm out of the oven, sugar cookies, along with Grandma’s famous fudge! There’s stockings chocked full of chocolate covered EVERYTHING, and let’s not forget BUTTERBALL deep fried turkey and mashed potatoes with all the fixings! Just typing this makes me want to throw this laptop out the window and spread me some butter on a biscuit!
In the deep silence of our little ole minds, we curse the 1% of those tough bastards that are able to resist, and actually lose weight over the holiday season. Such will-power can’t be humanly natural! If this is what you’re thinking, well, unfortunately you’re right! That rare breed of human that loses weight, or maintains it, through this chaos, unlike the rest of us heathens, isn’t actually superhuman, although they appear to be, and definitely deserve a ribbon! The difference between them and most of us, isn’t even necessarily will-power. Here's the secret, their main ingredient is sticking to a well devised plan. Need a weight loss reboot? Wanna learn some tricks to recover after the holiday splurge? Well, just keep on reading!
So, what do we do now that the New Year is here, along with our new rear? With the help of Matt, my very own Rebel Genetics Nutrition genius, and partner in both life, and crime, I’m gonna give y’all a few tips and then follow them myself.
Tip #1
GET RID OF THE GOODS!
Let me repeat… if you’ve been on a cheat retreat this season, you’re gonna wanna keep cheating. You’ve introduced lot’s of yummy things into the system. You know that extra zing of excitement you feel when you pop something extra tasty into your mouth? There’s a bit more science behind it, but odds are that that zing is chalked full of the ingredients that will keep you craving more! Get them out of your house. It’s called, “time to flush the system”, or more technically… detox baby! If you’re one of those types that’s allergic to wasting or throwing perfectly edible food away….
Put them in your neighbors mailbox with a note that says, “Your rear not mine!”
Give them to the neighborhood kids!
Surprise the school bus driver, postmaster, police officer!
A homeless person would love a cookie!
Do what ya gotta do, just get them out of the house and stop the temptation!
Tip # 2
GET YOUR HEAD STRAIGHT
Just like an athlete prepares for a race, you too must mentally and physically prepare for a healthy lifestyle change. Create a plan and set it into motion. I’m talking about an actual, old school plan. Take out a pen, paper, crayons, whatever floats your boat. Every plan is obviously individual. You can make it as simple or elaborate as you like, but they key is to visualize what you want to accomplish and then make a structured plan on how to get there. Here’s some pivotal things to consider when creating a plan.
How can you create a good support system?- Things are usually much easier if you can pair up with your spouse, friend, team-mates, basically anybody that you respect, and has the same goals as you!
Do you have a nutrition plan to follow that fits you? Need a customized plan? There's some good coaches out there, but of course we’re biased, so we’ll just cut to the chase and recommend you contact us.
Do you plan on joining a gym, or investing in home equipment? If so, decide on a goal to start, or set a plan in motion for how you'll save up for it. Remember, any advancement in health is a well spent investment!
The main goal here is to think and execute. The more you can plan and visualize, the better success you’ll have.
TIP#3
REPLACE BAD HABITS WITH NEW GOOD HABITS
Remember to include plans to help you avoid the things that have made you struggle in the past. We all have some “bad habits.” Attempting to just give up a bad habit usually isn’t enough. You need to actually CHANGE your actions and those habits, by replacing them with different “good habits.” Do you always eat popcorn in bed at night, with a movie? Try changing it up. Start watching your movies in a different room. Become a foreign tea connoisseur to replace your popcorn, (or something like that). Put the old noggin to use and be creative. Maybe now is a good time to take up knitting, or card games instead of TV. Just welcome change and plan ahead!
TIP #4
VISUAL MOTIVATION
Post a picture on your fridge. One of you as Carbie, and your best picture of you as Barbie.. Wait! Men, please don’t do this!…
Adjust accordingly...well, unless you’re into that! I’m gonna stop now.
On a serious note, there’s nothing more motivating than a visual reality check when it comes to motivation! That’s why we use photographs for weekly checkins for our clients. To be able to compare before and afters photos can be extremely encouraging, so take pictures from day one, as hard as it is! Pictures propel you forward, and prevent you from sliding backwards.
And remember, CARBS are actually not the enemy… They are actually VERY important. We love Carbie! She just needs to be taught how to make carbs work in her favor.
TIP #5
EAT MORE OF THE GOOD STUFF
It takes about 3 days to get cravings to subside. In the meantime, you need to battle through the process. Instead of struggling, just try to eat MORE of the good “clean” foods during this time.
If you’ve been eating a lot of sweets, you’ll most definitely crave sweet things, so instead of trying to go all gung-ho, heroic, cold turkey, try a different approach. It will set you up to be more successful. Our suggestion, don’t stop all the sweets! When those impulses to cheat show up, just make things sweet, the clean way. Use pure honey over regular sugar. Make sweet smoothies by using fruit and splenda. You can even make ice cream out of casein protein powders. Things like that to curb the temptation go a long way to help you get through the detox time.
So here’s a keynote to remember- Once you’re eating really clean, your temptation for unhealthy foods diminishes. It’s when you introduce it back into the system that the cravings gain power. Of course hormones come into affect and other ugly things like that, but for the most part, cravings stay under control until you welcome them back in with cheat retreats! So get through those first few days and it will become much easier, especially if you’re on the right nutrition plan!
This is how most of those 1% nutrition die hards make it through the holidays. Cravings aren’t strong to begin with because they keep their diet clean, and as long as they don’t give in, they don’t go downhill. Okay, it’s probably more than 1%, but 1% sounds better to the majority, haha! In all fairness, we always have many clients that do AMAZING over the holidays, so no downplaying here!
TIP #6
PREP, PREP, PREP!
Along with watching people succeed in the nutrition business, watching people fall down a rabbit hole and try to dig their way back up is also something we’re accustomed to. The biggest hole we see is failure to prep.
This is a typical scenario
Sunday- You plan on prepping meals for the week but get invited to a friends house, so you decide to postpone cooking until later that day.
Sunday Night- You’re tired and decide you’ll pack tomorrows meals in the morning and the rest when you get home Monday from work.
Monday morning- You’re snooze on your alarm never went off and the dog left a puddle on the floor that you have to clean up. Your kid can't find his matching shoe, and it snowed last night so you’re gonna need extra time to warm up the car. You quickly blend a smoothy that you chug for breakfast, and in a rush, throw some things in a bag that will work for your other meals.
Mid morning- You skip your snack to spend time catching up at work, due to being late. By the time you get to lunch you realize you forgot to pack your protein, so you eat a handful of nuts from the employee room, to go with your carbs of course, which is NOT on your nutrition plan. (This reminds me of the storybook, “If you give a Moose a Cookie,” lol), By the time dinner rolls around your starving, but you still have to pick up the kids from hockey practice and they won’t be done for another hour! There isn’t enough time to go home beforehand.
Monday night- The kids are finally done with practice and loaded in the car. EVERYONE is starving! You decide to feed everyone, except yourself of course, with help from Mr. Ole McDonald’s. When you get through the drive thru, your stomach voice is screaming so loudly that you can’t think clearly, and the yummy smells wafting through the window are far to great. You decide it's to late to cook when you get home and the day is
already shot. Might as well throw in a milk shake!
Moral of the story- Make your meals a week in advance and freeze what will go bad. If you’re working the next day, before bed, pack the next days meals and leave them in the refrigerator so it makes for a quick grab and go. If it helps to have breakfast measured out ahead of time, do that too. You can’t over-prep! Lack of preparation almost always results in a rabbit hole. Remove the temptation.
TIP #7
ESTABLISH A ROUTINE
If you can stick to a routine, you’ll be WAY ahead in the game. Create a weekly schedule to accommodate meal prep, fitness training, grocery shopping, and talking with the people in your support system. This is vital to prevent excuses, which is the main ingredient for sabotaged health plans.
TIP #8
BE ACCOUNTABLE
If you make yourself write down everything that goes into your pie hole, it’s much harder to cheat.
If you know you have to weigh every morning, and document that number, it’s much harder to eat that large bowl of buttered popcorn at bedtime.
If you know you have to take progress photos once a week, it’s easier to stay on track.
We find that when clients know they’ll have questions to answer, food and progress pictures to submit, along with weights, measurements, etc., they stick more closely to a program. It’s harder to fall if someone else is pushing you to succeed because most people HATE disappointment, and even more so, HATE disappointing. So, even if you haven’t hired a nutrition coach, find a trusted friend or partner to help hold you accountable.
TIP #9
DRINK YOUR WATER
Do you realize just how important water is? It’s the difference between proper body function and NOT! Wanna stop those cravings faster? Speed up fat loss, and help out every other part of your body, including brain, organs, skin and your body waste skills? By drinking 2-3 Liters of water per day, it will make a world of difference!!! I like to make it really simple and just fill up my pre-measured jug in the morning and know that it needs to be empty by bedtime.
TIP #10
LASTLY- and most importantly
A POSITIVE ATTITUDE
Create the mindset you want. To be the most fulfilled person that you can be, surround yourself with others that are positive, who don’t make excuses, and who motivate you to be your best. Read inspirational books, listen to inspirational people on YouTube, on a podcast, or in person, dig deeper into yourself, embrace your faith, and be true to you. My grandma always used to say, “Birds of a feather, flock together.” How true this is! You become who, and what, you surround yourself with, so choose wisely. The mind is powerful and you can accomplish anything with the right attitude and the right people in your corner.
Good luck everyone on your health ventures! Matt and I wish you a very merry New Year!
