Weight Loss During the Holidays

You don't have to stress knowing that the holidays are right around the corner and weight loss seems impossible.

There are many ways to enjoy this special time of year while keeping those extra pounds of Christmas cookies off your frame. I promise you that there is no need to add that additional stress or anxiety to yourself when this time of year already is enough to trigger it. Relax and take a deep breath! Your early Christmas present from good ol' St. Nick is here. My name is Matt and I'm a certified personal trainer. I also hold national certifications in nutrition and life coaching. What I'm going to explain to you here in a moment is how to keep the weight off, keep stress levels low, and still enjoy the holiday season. The first thing we need to identify is your activity level at this point right now. Do you already belong to a health club or do you exercise at home with your own personal equipment? Next, what are you nutrition habits? Do you eat enough or too little? Third, how much cardiovascular training do you perform in a week and for how long? And finally, is your body running on empty? Is it getting enough to keep your immune and nervous systems running on all cylinders? Whether you work out at home or at a gym isn't the important factor for our goal.

The important thing is that you are performing resistance training(weights) three times a week for 30 to 45 minutes per session. You should aim at making this a pretty good paced workout meaning that rest periods between sets are no more than a minute. Also you may want to decide whether you will break up the three workout days into split body parts or will you be doing a full body workout each time. Right now that won't be anything we need to worry about.

The key is to do the weight training making sure that we are promoting lean muscle stimulation or building and we are burning calories. (I will discuss body split workouts in my weekly newsletter) What types of foods are you currently eating and how often? You see, your body acts like an engine. If this engine does not get enough fuel it won't run properly.

The biggest shock to my clients is the fact that I want them to eat more than they are already eating. If you you focus on your three main meals and include tiny snacks in between those main meals you will be feeding your body fuel. And from there your metabolism will start to fire up which will then start burning body fat. To make this simple for you, you must start with breakfast and three hours from that point eat a snack and three hours from that point eat lunch and etc. By doing this your body will burn the food for energy and not store unwanted fat. I would include lean proteins, low glycemic carbs, and good fats in your main meals. Your snacks can consist of protein shakes or bars or things like cottage cheese with blueberries. Do not worry about what you eat on Christmas and New Years. As long as you stick to this type of eating most of the time, splurging on the holiday won't matter. Cardiovascular workouts will also be crucial. You can either do this at a gym, your home, or around your neighborhood. For now, just make sure you work your way up to 30 minute sessions and try to do this at least 3 times a week. You can either do it on the resistant training days or on the off days. It's up to you! This type of training along with eating the way I explained above are a sure way to burn tons of body fat. And not only will the body fat start melting off but your natural energy levels will start to increase as well. Make sure your cardio sessions are a fast walk that gets the heart rate up. In my weekly newsletter I will describe the formula to determine the proper target heart rate for an individual to always burn body fat. We won't worry about that right now though.

The key is that you are doing cardio training to keep the holiday pounds off. And last, does your body get enough vitamins and minerals from your nutrition? Maybe not! Also, with all the pollution in the air along with daily stress you may need a little boost. I would recommend a multiple vitamin/mineral supplement from your local health food store. At this time of year extra vitamin c and an anti-oxidant supplement will ensure the immune and nervous systems are running high. You may want to even look into purchasing some acai berry or mangosteen juice and take it twice a day.

These two juices have very strong anti-oxidant properties that protect our systems from cellular damage and fight off disease. Now you may think what I have explained is a lot of information but it really doesn't have to be complicated. Just remember to workout with weights 2-3 times a week during this holiday season and on. Perform a good paced cardiovascular program that consists of 30-35 minute sessions 3 times a week. Make sure to eat your three main meals(do not skip breakfast) with tiny snacks in between and space out everything every three hours. And last, feed your body those extra vitamins, minerals, and anti-oxidants so you keep feeling healthy and strong. If you start to make this a part of your daily life I promise you that you will feel better than you have in a long time. Stress won't even be a factor. And you will keep those holiday pounds off and you will enjoy your holiday season a lot more. Happy Holidays everybody!!!!! If you would like to subscribe to my weekly newsletter please send an e-mail to dreams2reality@live.com. Type the word 'newsletter' in the subject box. Matt Deloff