Festive Survival for Gym Rats and Iron Heads
It’s that time of year. That dreadful period where you are forced to sit next to people you don’t like from work and relatives whose name you can’t remember. You are expected to make small talk. You are socially conditioned to eat and drink to excess. If you deviate from this you run the risk of becoming a social pariah. Not because you’re doing anything wrong, but because your will of steel is making your mother/brother/sister/co-worker feel bad about themselves.
“Why are you trying to make me feel bad for things that are wrong in your life?”
Anyway, it is a time for celebration and enjoyment. I really like this idea from Buddhism:
“Buddha describes the middle way as a path of moderation, between the extremes of sensual indulgence and self-mortification.”
To truly live a life of moderation you must have ‘moderation in moderation’. Now, I’m not encouraging people to run off and indulge in some sort of bingeing frenzy. What I am going to do is offer a few sensible strategies that gym rats and iron heads can utilise so that whilst we do get to party, we aren’t going to have to lose 8lbs of body fat come January. One thing we need to keep healthy is our mind and soul, and the ‘party season’ can be just the thing we need to recharge those ‘soul-batteries’.
Before dinners/lunches, do a full-body workout including compound lifts and/or a metcon activity. When I was an office-jockey, I’d take off a little bit earlier than the rest of the guys for the Christmas party and get to the gym. Knock out some heavy lifts and slap a hardstyle kettlebell swing tabata or barbell complex at the end. Hit the showers, neck an extra large protein shake and then go party. Once you hit the dinner, your body is primed to convert all of that turkey, sausage and ham into muscle mass, and convert all of those lovely veggies and potatoes into muscle glycogen.
One of my friends (an office manager) was such a fitness-ninja that he organised the office 5-a-side Christmas game to be straight before the Christmas party, so that he could get his workout in without ‘appearing suspicious’!
When you get to the dinner part, make sure you eat in this order: vegetables, meat, meat, some more veggies and then the starchy carbs (potatoes, etc). Actually, you should always eat in that order (unless you are a vegetarian, then replace ‘meat’ with whichever high protein alternative you’ve got on your plate). Eat meat/high protein and say no to sugary desserts…. ok, it’s Christmas. So say yes to the smaller portion. But you don’t have to finish it.
If it isn’t a lunch/dinner but more of a buffet, then start with the carrot/cucumber/celery sticks and hummus option. Get those veggies and fats in your stomach and make sure you get filled on this rather than the deep fried, crispy stuff!
If it’s just a get together for drinks, then make sure you eat before you head out. High protein/high fat, get satiated so that you won’t be tempted with pizzas and kebabs.
Drink plenty of water. This one’s non-negotiable. Depending on your work culture you may have to suck it up and take this one on the chin.
Exit strategy: Book a cab to pick you up. Don’t let it turn into an all nighter. Have your exit planned. Whether it’s a cab, or a bus/train home. Make your exit strategy as cast-iron as you can.
Sleep lots, relax, deload and take the decision to enjoy, rather than flagellate, yourself. Your body will enjoy a week or two where it gets a lot of rest and primes itself to hit the new year hard.