Christmas Damage Control

What habits can you change this Christmas to limit the damage done to your body?

Caloric Awareness

• Did you know that the average person consumes between 6,000 and 7,000 calories on Christmas day an average of 3.5 times the necessary amount.

• BMR = Basic Metabolic Rate = Weight Lbs x 10

• PAL= Physical Activity Level (scale) = 1.0 (Completely Sendentary) - 2.0 (Very Active)

• Basic Metabolic Rate X Physical Activity Level (scale) = Total daily caloric intake        

  Example:

  Weight 134lbs, BMR 1,340 cals per day X PAL of 1.6 = 2,144 cals per day  

•  If, for a 14 day period I do not move as much and I eat almost 4 times the amount of calories – this will equal certain fat gain. Don't be surprised in January it couldn't be any other way! on a very simple level  the message you have given your body is to store fuel and that is exactly what it does…. Your body is actually serving you incredibly well and adapting to the environment you have subjected it too (more calories and less movement) 

• Simple but effective tip - eat slowly until satisfied not “stuffed”

• Use the 5/10/15 rule

  5 deep breaths before you start eating, put the knife and fork down every 10 mins & make sure eating your meal takes longer than 15 minutes

• Post prandial inflammation – there is always an element of inflammation in the body when we eat, to what degree depends on the quality of the food we have chosen to take in. Study's have shown that a low intensity light walk after a meal can bring inflammation down thus making for better digestion and overall  GI function 

Smarter Food Choices

• Wine (120 cals per pub measure) switch it for a spirit (50cals per pub measure) 

• Choc cakes/pastries switch them for fruit cake or Christmas pudding 

• Soft drinks as mixers switch them to sparkling water, tonic or juice 

• Choclate sauces and custard switch for fresh cream, clotted Cream or crème fraiche

• Creamy sauces (cheese sauce for cauliflower) and packaged sauces (pepper sauce/bisto gravy) switch them to Cranberry sauce and homemade gravy/stocks from soups 

• Creamy mash/roast potatoes switch them to Boiled potatoes ( Tip: drizzle with olive oil and seasoned) 

• Cooking in animal fat ( duck fat, goose fat or pure butter)versus poor quality oils( vegetable oil,canola oil,frylite,crisp and dry etc) why?...when you heat veg fats to their “flash point” (a certain high temperature) they produce “Toxins” thus spoiling the nutritional quality  of the food you are cooking , veg oils may well be lower in fat , but you must consider the effect they have on the body .Animal fats have an incredibly high “flash point” and it is rarely reached therefore the production of these “toxins” is prevented, thus preserving and actually enhancing the nutritional content of the food you are cooking.

Importance of Consistency

• Train smart –Go for your bigger lifts ( squat, bench, deadlift, chin up) these create a way bigger response in the body thus increases the intensity of your session. Using larger compound lifts that train nearly every major muscle group in the body is the most effective way to train from a physiological standpoint( not to mention its super time efficient)

• Train consistently – if you currently train 4 days a week aim to keep those 4 sessions scheduled in over the crazy weeks of Christmas. Book your sessions in now whether it is classes , group training or one to one coaching

Immune Health During Winter

• 80% of your immune system is in your gut 

•  If your gut isn’t healthy and functioning properly then your body certainly wont be!

• Proper function = absorbing and digesting foods adequately

•  Winter is classically the peak time for colds, flu’s, viruses etc. You can arm yourself against being affected  by these aliments by having strong immune function 

• The condition of your gut (where the your immune system lives) is dependent on the quality of food you eat. If you bombard your gut with poor quality foods for the month of December you will be guaranteed to see the effects of this well into the month of January. Your body doesn’t know (or care) that its Christmas, all it knows is that you have given it crap food, way more alcohol than usual and significantly less sleep- it will respond accordingly to this lifestyle (inflammation, excess adipose tissue, poor gut function etc).

Here are the main Take Home Points:

Eat less move more

Try and keep your nutritional and exercise habits as consistent as possible throughout the month of December

Eat smart- 

Ask yourself when you are about to eat something (Roses) am I really hungry or am I just bored?