With the holiday season in full effect, people are beginning to notice that a few extra pounds have accumulated seemingly out of nowhere.
It’s not their fault; the end of the year has numerous events that span the globe where people engage with their family, have fun, exchange gifts and indulge in their favorite food items.
If the end of the year is approaching and you’re starting to feel the need to get back into shape for 2020, here’s what you need to know. As always, IsaAxcess is here to help you along the way and give you the nutritional supplements to push you past the finish line.
You Can Still Eat Good Food…
Contrary to popular belief, maintaining your weight and lean muscle does not have to involve overly-complicated meals and workout routines. If you’re anything like the average person, your holiday festivities are centered around a large meal that multiple people have prepared.
It’s important to note that these food items are usually dense with calories, carbohydrates and fats that can pack on the pounds. While it’s hard to say no to these home-cooked delights, it’s important to set boundaries for your eating habits before meeting with your loved ones.
Rather than push your plate away for a healthier option, use the experience as an opportunity to exercise your self-control and self-discipline. Make a mental agreement with yourself that your portion size will be half of what the people around you are putting on their plates. Doing this will allow you to engage with the people around you without consuming too many calories or putting on weight.
Although changing your portion size may seem like a trick that’s too good to be true, it has its roots based on scientific data. A study released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that portion sizes within North America have doubled in recent years.
With more people opting for large-sized meals and beverages, the average individual is unaware of how many calories they’re consuming at any given time.
When we misinterpret how many calories we’ve consumed in a certain meal, we create the habit of overestimating our caloric needs. Ask yourself this quick question: have you ever been in a situation where you haven’t eaten all day?
You may have found yourself rushing home from work and reaching for the nearest, easy-to-make food item available to you. While this may not pose a serious threat in the immediate future, it creates a life-long habit of binge eating.
Studies have shown that numerous individuals base their portion sizes on the amount of energy they have at that particular moment. To counteract this problem, use the following questions as a way of gauging how hungry you truly are:
- Am I eating this meal out of necessity, or am I just bored?
- Will the food items on my plate give me the much-needed energy to run my day?
- Does this meal reflect my core beliefs and the life-long goals I’ve set for myself?
- When I’ve finished eating this meal, will I feel shame and regret about my decision?
- Will this push me closer to my goals?
We’re not going to lie, implementing this checklist into your thought process whenever you eat a meal can be intimidating at first. The key is to start slow and keep steady to ensure that you’re thinking about your actions before eating.
Once this mindset has been adopted and made easy, you can establish a healthy relationship with food and understand that eating cheat meals can be fun and rewarding! Only after we’ve developed the behavior of overindulging do we begin to notice that our weight fluctuates.
Prioritize Protein
One of the downfalls of holiday sweets and snacks is that they are, without a doubt, loaded with carbohydrates in the form of simple sugars. Did you know that a small candy cane contains more than eleven grams of sugar per serving?
We often reach for these sweet treats and plop them into our mouths without glancing at their nutritional content. Moving into the following weeks, we need to prioritize our food in a way that promotes fat loss and increases our muscle mass.
The best tactic to achieve this goal is to emphasize our protein consumption above other macronutrients. Protein is responsible for the rebuilding of broken-down muscle fibers within the body. When we put ourselves through a grueling workout session, our fibers become torn and damaged from outside stimuli.
Protein provides the essential amino acids that can repair this damage and cause the muscle to grow stronger and larger. For readers who don’t want to research what food items are healthy for this holiday season, here are a few ideas:
- No-bake gingerbread
- Almonds
- Dark Chocolate
- Oats
- Flavored yogurt
- Sweet potatoes
- Fat-free eggnog
- Flavored protein bars
- Protein hot chocolate
- Cheese
The protein content found within the items listed above will help you maintain your muscle mass and keep fat deposits at bay. When in doubt, just remember this: protein is your main priority this holiday season.
Plan Physical Activities
With the weather becoming more unpredictable, our holiday is usually filled with activities and events that take place indoors. One way that we can fight back against holiday weight gain is through planning events that require us to get out and move.
At first glance, getting out and about doesn’t seem like a daunting task. We can go shopping with friends, look at festive lights, meet up for dinner or engage with our city’s annual events. But the fact that we’re getting out and walking means that stored energy will be used as fuel to keep us chugging along.
In the following days, make sure that you schedule events that require some light to intermediate walking. Your family will enjoy the festivities, and you can rest easy knowing that the holiday meal that you had won’t come back to bite you! Moreover, reducing your stress will have a beneficial impact on your fitness and your waistline.
When we become stressed about holiday events and schedules, our body releases taxing hormones like adrenaline, cortisol and norepinephrine. This cocktail of hormones can cause unwanted weight gain and leave us feeling hopeless about the future. Getting out with our friends and family not only feels good, but it also helps us stay in great shape both mentally and physically.
Supplements on the Go
With all of the hustle and bustle surrounding the holiday season, staying in shape slips to the back of our mind, and unwanted pounds appear out of nowhere. The reality is rather simple: We need supplements that are easy to use, taste great and don’t take a long time to prepare.
Millions of us are traveling to other areas, wrangling the kids, tackling last-minute shopping and arranging flight details; there’s simply no time left in the day to prepare meals.
We understand your pain and that’s why we recommend using high-quality supplements as a means of maintaining your health this year. Our supplement line is designed specifically for people that need the most bang for their buck.
Whether you’re a stay-at-home parent that never has the time to rest or an entrepreneur running your own business, we’ve got you covered.
Our Isagenix solutions cover a wide variety of topics such as burning fat, packing on muscle, improving mental clarity, removing brain fog, providing much-needed energy and motivation.
If you’re someone that needs a supplement line that “just works,” we’re here to help. Reach out to us today and share your journey with thousands of Canadian-based users just like you. Enjoy this holiday season, and use the tactics listed above to dominate the remainder of this year.