3 Don'ts, 3 Do's of the Holidays

3 Don'ts

1. "If I'm gonna eat bad, I may as well go all the way" Excuse

I see this all the time. Somebody messed up with their diet so they decided to just go all out and eat completely horrible for the rest of the day, weekend, or even week!

I don't stub my toe and then go, well might as well break my ankle and slam it into a wall. I don't overspend by $50 on presents then decide to drain my entire savings since I'm already off budget. Hopefully those were good analogies.


Not to mention you're going to set yourself up for more weight gain, feel depressed, lose your momentum, and a downward spiral continues ever ...downward.

Seriously, you're just making excuses to overeat. Know that so that the next time your brain tries to talk you into cheating you know what's happening and don't let yourself be fooled. Because the easiest person for you to fool is yourself.

How about, I've been dieting, working out hard, might as well not ruin it over a few seconds of taste.

 2. Don't be that GUY/GIRL

You know who. The one that brings a protein shake and some celery while everyone else is eating as a family.

Just don't. I don't care if you got all your food in Tupperware that you can eat with the rest of the family. Just be normal and eat like a human for one meal. One meal won't ruin everything unless you just go crazy.

3. Don't weigh yourself immediately after

Of course you gained weight. You'll gain weight from a glass of water. You'll lose weight when you pee. Why weight yourself right after a huge meal and ruin your holiday moment with instant guilt.

Know that you'll gain weight and most of it will be from water. Lost of carb sources combined with lots of sodium will make you look and feel pudgier, but it's fake.

You'll lose it easy. No harm done.

3 Do's

1. Save your calories for the Big Meal

Intermittent fasting has proven that you don't have to eat every 2-3 hours, so if you can go most of the day without eating, then you can get most of you calories done while eating that big Christmas dinner.

I'm not saying you have to starve yourself all day. You can have very lean protein sources with fibrous carbs. That way you'll be full but still have lots of room for calories that night.

Which brings me to...

2. High Protein

Attack the turkey first, or whatever protein source you have. If you're vegetarian go after that tofurkey. Get all those pees as well. If you're filling up on protein and carbs first, then you'll be getting full of low calorie tasty food. Then with the little room you have left you can attack those pies and pudding without having to worry about self control. You simply won't have room for bad food. But you will be full, and have a good time doing it.

3. Be Prepared

I like to do the reverse of Fat Tuesday. A day where everyone knows they're going to be bad for Ash Wednesday that beings Lent.

So they get all the bad out of them.

You know you're going to be bad so get all the good out of you. Workout with lot's of intensity and volume. Get a good diet going before Christmas. And bring lower calorie desserts(that still taste great) to the event for everyone. 

I'd like to give Lyle McDonald credit for putting out a lot of good info on this as I took a lot of his ideas for this as well.

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/

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5 Most Popular Fat Loss Myths

1st  Myth:

You can't eat late at night

Truth:

This isn't Cinderella where carbs turn into a Pumpkin after midnight. You're body doesn't have a digital clock strapped to it. It doesn't care what time it is.

By this logic, should we worry about time zone changes and daylight savings time?

What about someone who works at night and sleeps during the day? Will celery and oatmeal make them fat because it was eaten when the moon was out?

How it Started:

People snack and gorge the most at night. So when people stopped eating at night they lost weight. They then thought it was science.

I had someone recently tell me they lost weight because they started going to bed early and it stops the urge to eat bad.

It's definitely a good rule to follow if you have issues with eating at night. But if not, don't worry about it. Eat whenever you want.

2nd Myth:

You have to eat multiple meals a day

Truth:

A little thing called Intermittent Fasting has proved this false. People who follow IF eat only once or twice a day and get very lean.

If you're a woman dieting on only 1200 calories and were supposed eat multiple meals it would be impossible. 6 meals at 200 calories?  4 meals at 300 calories? That's rediculous.

It doesn't matter how you eat it, just as long as you get the correct amount before the end of the day.

How it Started:

Most people go long periods without eating. So just when they do eat, they gorge. Which has a lot to do with the previous Myth we just discussed.

Eating often controls your appetite. You ever heard the advice "Never shop while hungry".

If you're really hungry you'll overeat before your brain realizes you're full. Or maybe eat a lot high calorie food that aren't filling because of how hungry you are.

But people use this as an excuse saying they don't have time to eat right. I call B.S. Eat 2-3 times a day and do it right.

Others use this for marketing and sell six pack lunch boxes.

Again, it's a good philosophy to follow, but not truth. Eat whatever size and amount works for you.

3rd Myth:

You must eat Breakfast

Truth:

Why? Because you told me to? Because you lost weight when you ate breakfast, therefor it must make everyone lsoe weight?

That's not how science works.

Is breakfast food lower in calories? No, the opposite.

Does breakfast food have fat fighting ingredients? No again.

I was going to do some fasted cardio but I'm not allowed now?

What if I eat lunch food for breakfast? What if I eat breakfast but I woke up late?

Again, where is the logic in this?

Where it Started:

Breakfast is a good time to load up on carbs because you'll be busy all day and you'll need it to power through your workout as well.

Fruits, Oatmeal, Protien, Fats, etc. all found in a good well rounded breakfast is definitely not a bad thing.

In fact it may curb you from bad decisions during the day.

But it won't fight off fat if you eat it, and won't make you fat if you skip it

4th Myth

Cavemen didn't eat carbs, that's why you're Fat

Truth:

For some reason Cavemen are now the authority on Car Insurance and How to Get Abs.

Carbs don't make you fat. Overeating Carbs make you fat.

By this logic fruit, sweet potatoes, oatmeal, are all bad for you.

If a person has a total maintenance level of 2000 calories, and eats 2400 calories from too many carbs then they will become fat.

But if a person eats 2400 calories (like my current diet) and has a maintenance of 3000 (Like me) they will lose weight even though they will be eating around 300 carbs a day...and I do and I am.

Where it Started:

First of all Carbs retain water, so cutting carbs instantly makes you look leaner. But it's just water weight.

Second of all, Carbs are the easiest thing to over eat. How often does someone overeat grilled chicken and flank steak.

Which is why dumbed down diets such as Paleo and Keto exploit this tactic. The amount of calories you'll eat from lots of fat and protein most often don't match up to all the calories you would obtain from the extraneous carbs people often munch on.

So it definitely works a lot of the time. Though getting all your calories from mostly meat means a lot of saturated fat. But we won't open that can of worms right now.

If you just eat in moderation and/or track your calories you can eat carbs like a real human being. Because cutting carbs completely is not practical for a long term solution. A very miserable existence indeed. Much like living in cave.

5th Myth:

Starvation diets work

Truth: 

While feeling your stomach rumble is normal in the beginning of most diets, it's not something to strive towards achieving.

In fact, I strive for small caloric deficits. Only 15-30% of a deficit from your maintenance is necessary for fat loss. Any more, and your body will get used to it and stop burning off calories as quickly and you'll be stuck in a Metabolic Slowdown.

Why starve yourself if not necessary?

Where it Started:

Massive crash diets are a trend that will never end. You will lose lots of weight quickly, but it will also plateau quickly.

When you're only eating 800 calories and the weight loss stops. Where do you go from there? 500 calories?  Then what?  300 calories?  Then what, live off the air and water?

Meanwhile, if you cut only 300 calories from 2000, you can then cut another 100-200 when you plateau. A reasonable rate of calorie cutting is both more long term beneficial and less miserable.

Plus most weight you lose off a crash diet is water weight, as we covered in the previous myth.

So think about that before you instantly join some one size fits all 500 calorie deduction, or all men should eat 1800 calories diet.

The only crash diet I know that works is miserable and requires a lot of effort but here's a link if you want to try it.

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/the-rapid-fat-loss-handbook/

There are many other Myths out there as well but I'll get to them another time.

Can only do so much at once.

-Steven Farmer

http://www.getfarmerfit.com