Contact Us
It is definitely that time of year. The holidays are fast approaching and that means one thing.
Parties, food and too much of everything.
Anyone who has ever read just one of my newsletters knows that I am about a lifestyle. I am not the trainer who says you can NEVER eat a certain thing again, or that you must totally restrict yourself from this or that.
I believe that everything in this life can be consumed in moderation if you make wise choices AND you always need to earn your choices.
Case in point, all of my group training clients are currently on a reasonable, yet stricter than usual, food plan, with little or no cheating, no alcohol and a beefed up training regiment. The reason is they all want to enjoy Thanksgiving dinner. Therefore, they are making a conscious choice to work hard for the next 9 days to ensure they can enjoy their Thanksgiving meals.
You might think that I am going to tell you that you need to modify your recipes and insert different ingredients in Aunt Martha’s stuffing or you need to completely re-season Uncle Ed’s Turkey marinade, but I’m not.
We all know it wouldn’t taste the same and why should we have to make sacrifices to a recipe that has probably been in the family for decades? This is just one day a year.
However, let’s look at a few things you can do that will make the meal less painful after the day is done.
First, you must know that different studies state that a single thanksgiving meal can contain between 3500 and 4500 calories. Considering we make efforts to keep our caloric intake to between 1800 and 2200 calories for just one day, its seems logical that to have almost 3 days worth of calories in one sitting is not in your best interest.
Here are some things you can do or cut from your dinner on Thanksgiving Day to reduce your caloric intake:
First, get up early and get outside. Go for a run, walk, or do one of the many workouts I have sent you over the year.
Next, keep the meals before the big feast light and small. Don’t skip them (not good for your metabolism). But rather, eat clean and small.
Once dinner starts, know that many of your calories are used up on snacking and miscellaneous extras. By cutting back and replacing some items throughout the day you will be able to save a decent amount of calories. And even if you overdo it a bit, it won’t be as severe.
Simple things you can do around dinner time are:
* Skip the butter and you will save up to 200 calories.
* Go light on the gravy or skip it completely and you save 350 calories.
* Pass on the rolls and you will save another 150/200 calories.
* Have a whole plain baked sweet potato instead of the casserole with marshmallows and cinnamon and there’s 300 calories you save.
* No chips during the big football game and you can delete another 200 calories.
* Have fresh cranberries instead of cranberry sauce and you’ve spared a whopping 400 calories.
* If dessert is your thing, have a piece of pumpkin cheesecake instead of pumpkin pie and you earned another 375 calories.
Finally, if you can keep an eye on your portion control the way I have asked you to do over the past few months, then you are already used to making wise choices.
So there you have it. I cannot continue to use the tagline “Results Only, it’s not just a name, it’s a lifestyle” and not let you live your life.
Enjoy Thanksgiving. Complete some due diligence before the big day, get some challenging workouts in to your routine, and watch what you eat over the next 7 days. Then have a great day with family and friends!
On Friday get right back to your routine and you will feel a million times better.
Finally, I recognize this can be a very trying time for some people out there. The end of the year sometimes takes its toll. I recently read about a study done at Duke University and I wanted to share my opinion on exercise and your mood in this newsletter’s feature article.
Results Only … it’s not just a name, it’s a lifestyle!
Bobby