With the holidays coming up there are lots of opportunities to eat. From Halloween parties, Thanksgiving dinners, Christmas parties, football tailgates, and everything in between there are a lot of things going on that can throw you off of your routine. I want to give you a few tips to help you make some good decisions over the holidays.
1. Always start with protein
When you are at a party and picking from a buffet your first choice should always be protein. We talk a lot about the importance of protein for muscle growth, health, and satiety so I won't go into this further here but when you are making your plate you should always start with protein. Look for the leanest meat that you can find and start off with a big portion of that. For every subsequent plate that you get make sure you have at least some of this meat on the plate. Overeating is bad, but when you combine that with under eating protein it makes for a really bad recipe for losing muscle and gaining body fat. Starting with protein will also make you feel fuller and will help to keep you from overeating all of the fats and carbs that are plentiful at parties.
2. Mind your micros
Your first plate should always be pretty healthy. Start with the lean meat like we talked about before, and then fill in with as many vegetables as you can. Try to get a wide variety of colors and types and eat as many as you want. We want to make sure we are getting a wide variety of micronutrients so our body continues to run efficiently. The fiber from the vegetables will also help us to feel fuller faster. I know how hard it is to skip the delicious sides for the vegetables but think about your first plate as a buy in before the AMRAP. You have to get a healthy plate as your buy in before you start going hard on the chips and dessert. If you can make sure you are still getting SOME good stuff before the junk then your body will still have something to work with.
3. Drink a lot of water
Water is going to be very important for flushing out all of the sodium you will be consuming. It will also be very easy to go overboard on the sugary drinks (not to mention alcohol) so try to alternate a sweet or alcoholic drink with a water. It's also always good to start with a water so you're at least getting some water in before you start eating. If we get at a major calorie surplus while we are also dehydrated we are setting ourselves up for slow digestion, storing fat, and feeling bad.
4. Work out
If you know that you are going to a party later that day that will have lots of food then work out. This is going to get your burning calories and breaking down muscle that needs to be repaired before you start eating. If you work out before then at least you are using some of that food to repair muscle and help you recover. You are starting out your party at a calorie deficit which means that you will be using a lot of that food to recover and repair instead of storing it. If you can't get to the gym that day then a quick bodyweight workout (we have a thousand on our website) can do the trick.
5. Look at your diet week to week, not day to day
When you are looking at calories it can be easy to look at it on a day to day basis. Our body doesn't do this, however. I encourage you to look at it on a week to week basis. If you go overboard on Saturday then an easy thing to do is fast until lunch. This can help to get your average calories per day down (you probably won't feel like eating breakfast anyways). If you know you're going to a party at night you can also eat a very low calorie, high protein breakfast and lunch that day. Think about what you will most likely be eating and what you will be missing out on and make sure you get that in early in the day. For most people this will be eating lots of lean meats and vegetables before you get to the party.
6. Keep your goals in mind
Finally, keep your goals in mind when you are at the party. Think about what your goal is before you walk in the door. If you are currently trying to lose a lot of weight then one bad meal can set you back a week. Think about that before you ever set foot in the door. Is a week long setback worth that third dessert? If it is then by all means go for it! But if it's not then make moderation your friend. If you have a plan going into the party then you will be a lot more likely to make better decisions than if you have no idea what you will eat. You work too hard week in and week out to take two steps back at every party during the holidays.
I hope this guide can help you make better decisions this holiday season. The holidays can be a time when people let themselves go for two months and then look up in January 10 pounds heavier. I encourage you to go into the holidays with a plan and stick to it as best you can. It is very possible to go to parties, enjoy yourself, and still work towards your health and fitness goals. With a little knowledge and planning on the front end you can save yourself a lot of trouble on the back end.