The most important thing during Christmas is to have fun! Spend quality time with family and friends and enjoy it. You have worked hard all year and so you deserve some wind-down time!
HOWEVER there are some things you can do to create control and balance over Christmas to ensure you do not end up feeling sluggish and reversing your efforts!!
HYDRATION AND HIGH NUTRIENT INTAKE.
Ensuring you keep well hydrated every day, 2 – 3.5 litres, will help regulate appetite and avoid any bad hangovers ;). Make sure to keep your vegetable intake super high to also regulate appetite and cravings!! You can not eat too much veg!
TRAIN HARD
A minimum of three workouts per week!! Home workouts or in the gym, whatever works for you, but make sure you keep your fitness and strength up. With the extra calories comes extra energy, so make sure to use this during your workouts and train harder than ever! Whole body workouts will be more beneficial and prioritise compound movements (movements that use multiple muscles at once) to have a greater metabolic output. Deadlift, squat, pendulum, military press, press up, pull up, Back rows.
CHOOSE YOUR DAYS
Choose the days you are going to relax and eat what you want and chose the days you are not. You cannot eat what you want for a 2 week plus period and then be surprised when you pile on the pounds and disrupt your progress.
E.g. you may choose Christmas Day, Boxing Day and News Years Day to relax, but the days around this you must take control. Plan your days with lower calorie and lower carb meals. This way the days you eat more shouldn’t have much effect on your physique and when this is done right, you should have balance to maintain your current physique/ weight, if not get leaner ;).
FYI the average Christmas dinner is 1500 calories and full of nutrients. You should be full all day!
QUALITY PROTEIN SOURCE WITH EVERY MEAL
(Whey protein, eggs, lean meats, fish, tofu). Protein is an essential macro-nutrient in your diet and so should be prioritised.
I wish you a fabulous Christmas!!!