Bootcamp Blog

The holiday months are upon us and temptations are everywhere.  If  you are trying to stick to a diet but find yourself craving the sweets and treats that you are assaulted with at work, at holiday parties, etc don’t freak out! Just employee some common sense and self discipline.  First things first, be prepared! Always have  a healthy snack like a small handful of nuts or piece of fruit at your desk to pick up when a craving hits.  Before taking the treat that might send you into a downward eating spiral, drink 8oz of water.  This works in a few ways.  It gives you the feeling of being full and it also slows you down.  Most of the things we go for in the office or at home are not really because we are hungry. We go for them because its an impulse (yummy cupcake, eat cupcake!), we are bored or just because its there.  If you take a moment to step away from the crime scene your rational brain can have a moment to take over.  Thats when you make the decision that the cupcake won’t help you reach your fitness goals and go for the apple and almonds instead. Good choice!

Dinner parties are also a big concern during the holidays.  I know it may be harder to control what you eat here but i also know that you can make better decisions than others.  Fill your plate with mostly vegetables and a small piece of protein.  In general you can’t over eat veggies.  After eating all your veggies if you really want a taste of stuffing go for it, have a little.  The operative word being “LITTLE.”  Anything in moderation will not undo all the hard work you put in, but a little bit here and a little bit there for a month can have devastating effects.  So enjoy yourself but don’t over indulge.  If you know you have a party to go to on saturday night try to eat as clean as possible for the week so you have a little wiggle room.

Speaking about parties has just reminded me about one other point I want to make, ALCOHOL! Liquor is perhaps one of the evilest evils when you are trying to stick to a diet.  Here are some simple calculations to get my point across.  There are 3500 calories in one pound of fat.  There are between 100-150 calories in 1 glass of wine or beer.  Lets say you have 3-4 glasses each time you go out and you go out for drinks 3-4 times a week.  I’ll take the average calorie count per drink at 125 at 3.5 drinks per night at 3.5 nights per week which gives me a total of 1531 extra calories in one week.  In two weeks of drinking like this you have already put on almost one pound of fat.  Plus the more you drink the less likely you are to stick to any kind of diet.  My point you ask? Don’t drink so much! Really, really, really try to limit your intake of alcohol.

Thats is for now, check back in in a few days for more tips, updates and fun stuff.