Enjoy your Holiday's While Keeping it LEAN!
Happy Monday squadies! With Christmas around the corner and Thanksgiving coming up for our American neighbors, how do we stay lean throughout the holidays?! With so much temptation all around us, it can sometimes be hard to find the motivation or will to stay lean throughout the holidays. That is why today I will be sharing some tips and tricks on how to stay lean throughout the holidays to help motivate YOU to stay lean throughout this holiday season!
Way too many people fall victim to the belief that one weekend of drinking and overeating makes or breaks their fat loss journey. THIS IS NOT THE CASE! Do not let that belief get the best of you! Using these tips and tricks, you can enjoy your holidays, whether you are in the US celebrating Thanksgiving or a Canadian having an early christmas party this weekend!
Tip #1: HIIT Workout
Doing a nice quick HIIT workout in the morning is definitely a good idea when there is a big dinner coming up later on that day! First off, HIIT workouts leave us feeling GOOD and energized! It also gives your metabolism a nice boost right off the bat! Want to boost the effects of this workout?! Try it fasted! This way, you will burn even MORE fat, leaving you feeling confident and leanmazing heading into your big dinner!
A huge part of staying lean and/or feeling good through these holidays is preparation! Starting off your day right and preparing your body for the coming feast can be super helpful in having you feel BETTER and GUILT FREE throughout the night. Adding this HIIT workout to your morning will have both physical and mental benefits - it can also help you stay motivated to get back on the lean train the next day!
Try out this 20 minute body weight HIIT to help you get prepared for your holiday dinner!
Tip #2: WATER
Again, one of my top tips is to DRINK a TON of water, both before and throughout your dinner. First off, if we don’t drink enough water, we generally feel HUNGRIER than we actually are! This can cause us to overeat! When we are eating a ton of salty foods, it is especially important to drink a ton of water to keep us from getting hydrated.
For those of you planning on having some drinkies throughout your night, drinking water becomes even more important! Drinkies PLUS salty foods equals DEHYDRATION! Try and drink a glass of water or so between each drink to make sure you are staying hydrated!
Tip #3: Portion Control
One of the BIGGEST reasons why we feel so sluggish after having a HUGE dinner is because we are simply eating WAY TOO MUCH FOOD! Sometimes with so much food, variety and distractions available, it is easy to lose track of how much you are eating. Before you know it, you have eaten half the tray of cheese and dinner hasn’t even been served yet!! HOW DO WE PREVENT THIS?!
Try to be mindful of how much you are eating! For appetizers, try adding a little bit of what you want on your plate and socializing AWAY from the food. This can help stop mindless social eating which is hard to avoid when you are standing in arms reach of all those yummy apps! For dinner, try to eat SLOW! Try not to overload your plate! Always remember that our eyes are bigger than our stomach, especially when there is so much food around! Keep in mind your average daily portion sizes and try to fill your plate accordingly. For dessert, follow the same steps as the aps! Pick out your favourites, have a little of each, and make sure to enjoy each and every bite!
Tip #4 Get back on the lean train
So you wake up the next day after your tasty feast, what do you do next?! Tons of people fall into the guilt trap. Whether you follow the above tips or not, sometimes you can still fall into this trap! How do we stop this?! By getting right back on the lean train! It can be super easy to tell yourself “well, I already over ate yesterday, what’s one more day?!” Instead of thinking like this, try starting off your day with another HIIT workout! Start making healthier choices right off the bat to avoid spiraling into a whole week of unhealthy eating!
Tip #5: Healthy side dish recipes
If you are hosting your party or bringing a side dish to a dinner, try looking for a healther /leaner dish to help spread the leanness! Here are a couple of ideas:
For the Vegan Squadies:
Roasted Brussel Sprouts and Cinnamon Butternut Squash with Pecans and Cranberries
This is a great idea if you are looking for a simple yet healthy recipe that the whole family can enjoy! This recipe provides you with healthy fats, protein and fibre. For the full recipe click here!
For the LOW CARB Squadies:
Low carb Cauliflower stuffing!
Stuffing is definitely a thanksgiving staple! Unfortunately, a typical stuffing dish tends to contain a ton of carbs! If you want to stay lean while still enjoying the festive food, try making some cauliflower stuffing like this recipe here!
Thank you for reading Squadies! Always remember, The most important thing to keep in mind: ENJOY YOURSELF! The lean plan is NOT a crash diet! The reality is simple. There is no time limit on a successful fitness journey. Instead, it’s a long term way of living and if you embrace that, a few weekends here and there filled with drinks, food and fun times are just part of the journey. Don’t focus on the extra calories and hangovers and let them discourage you or even worse stop you from eating healthy and exercising afterwards!!