Tuesday 4 December 2012

7 Tips To Avoid The Festive Flab Monster!

(written with ones tongue firmly in ones cheek!) 
 
So Christmas is coming and the goose is getting fat or is it just YOU that will be getting fat?
 
Christmas is usually a time when people traditionally fall off the diet wagon. The average person puts on over 7lbs of fat during the xmas party season and when December turns to January, the consequences of the food we ate over xmas usually means that we get paid a visit from the 'festive flab monster.'
 
 
The festive flab monster is a nasty piece of work. He will undo all your hard work over the year in a matter of days.
 
The festive flab monster had an unhappy childhood and actually LIKES it when you don't succeed. He likes it when you self-sabotage all your hard work.
 
He likes to spoil your results.
 
He will leave you feeling fat, tired and unhealthy.
 
He will make your clothes tighter, your stomach bloated and unhappy inside that you over indulged too much.
 
Seeing these changes in you makes the festive flab monster happy. He doesn't want to see you happy you see, and he doesn't like it when you're full of energy and in the best shape of your life.
 
To be honest, he's a bit sick in the head and he will do all that he can do to ensure that you get fat, tired and bloated this Christmas.This will make him HAPPY!
 
BUT WAIT!!!
 
It doesn't have to be this way!
 
Super Sam (that's me!) has a solution for you!
 
I have come up with 7 ways to avoid the festive flab monster this year so that you can enjoy a healthy happy christmas for you and your loved ones:
 
1) Healthy Eating -
 
 
 
Don't over do it on the carbs. This tends to be extremely common in the winter months when its cold & dark and you have the urge to eat processed carbs.
 
Steer clear of bread, pasta, biscuits, cakes, chocolates and anything with gluten in it. Gluten is very hard to digest and will lead to bloating, water retention and increased fat storeage.
 
Load up on vegetables like broccoli, spinach, white cabbage. water cress. Have EXTRA sprouts with your xmas meals and swap sugary desserts for fresh fruit.
 
2) Family Walks
 
 Get up from the couch and get walking!
 
 
 
 
I love a family walk over the christmas holiday. We always traditionally do a walk on xmas day aswell. Walking is a great way to burn the calories, and an awesome way of enjoying the winter scenery.
 
3) Supplements
 
As the days are shorter and the flu season begins one of the best ways to stay healthy and illness free is through upping your veg intake and taking a good greens drink.
 
The more vegetables we consume, the more alkaline we make our body. It has been research proven that disease, bacteria and parasites cannot thrive in a healthy body. Take a look at the
image below:
 
 
 
4) Get on the Coconut Oil
 
Coconut oil is great for your immune system during these winter months and awesome for carb cravings so cook with it as much as possible. Coconut oil also has the ability to enhance metabolism. It increseases thermogenesis (heat generation) in the body so great for fat burning.
 
5) Stress
 
Grab a couple of early nights to keep Cortisol levels down. If the stress hormone cortisol is always high then you will be more likely be wanting to snack on crap over the christmas period. Getting to bed by 10-30pm (no later) will keep cortisol down.
 
6) Alcohol Alternatives
 
 
 
 
The festive flab monster doesn't want you to know this but when you drink alcohol, you cannot burn bodyfat for 3 days afterwards. Did you know that?
 
Alcohol sadly isn't great if you suffer with love handle fat either so my advice would be to go easy on the alcohol this xmas and go for alcohol alternatives. Fruit cocktails are a healthy and delicious alternative.
 
7) Train 3 times a week!
 
 They don't have to be long, draining sessions. 3 x 30 minute sessions per week should do it. The fitter and healthier you are, the more resistant you will be to colds and infections.
 
Do workouts that increase metabolism. Workouts that help burn calories both during and long AFTER the session finishes. And workouts that add or ATLEAST mantains muscle mass because
muscle tissue is the only tissue in the body that burns fat so why would you not want any?
 
So there you have it!
 
So YES you can STILL have a good time over xmas without completely falling off the diet wagon
 
Follow that 7 step plan to avoid the winter weight gain and steer clear of the festive flab monster because he's on the prowl ;-)
 
Sam

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