How to Beat the Holiday Weight Gain

Alright people. The time has come. Snow has officially fallen here in Colorado, and the holiday mindset is upon us. If you're not thinking about Thanksgiving, how much food you'll be eating, and how you'll manage to control your food once the Christmas cookies come out of the oven, something is wrong with you.

During this season, food is abundant and binge eating becomes a part of everyday life. The question is, how in the world can we enjoy the holidays without putting on an extra ten pounds of body fat? It's always seemed like an all or nothing concept. Either we stuff our faces uncontrollably and take in an average of 300g of sugar daily, or we completely swear off all holiday food and turn into "that person" at every gathering. Here's what I have to say to that: take a friggin' chill pill. It's all good in the hood. You're going to enjoy all of the delicious food everywhere you go, and you'll keep extra body fat off. Here's how:

This is what I'll look like come November 25th. 

1. Continue Training

I can't stress this one enough. Although your gym is probably closed for Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, and Christmas day, it is no excuse for taking one month of of your training regimen. Make sure you have a plan that you can track. If you haven't been following one, don't stress. Find or create a plan for one month to keep you active during the holidays. Skipping out on the gym will make it so much easier for your body to hold onto extra body fat. Don't give it the opportunity to do so.

2. Track Your Intake

If you haven't been tracking your food. You need to start. I don't care how "busy" you are. I don't care if you don't feel like opening an app while you're eating. Quit whining. TRACK YOUR FOOD. This will keep your mind focused on your goals in the kitchen, as well as help you fit all of the delicious foods into your macros. If you don't have macros set up, send me an email or find a macronutrient calculator and get them set. Going way over your daily calories and macros is far too easy if you don't know what you're aiming for in the first place. 

3. HoliDAYS not Holiweeks

Remember this: Thanksgiving and Christmas fall on days. Not weeks. On those days, I fully expect all of you out there to go nuts on your food intake. I will be eating an unbelievable amount of food, so why would I tell you all to do the opposite? Here's the thing, though. I'll be going all out on Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, and Christmas. I won't be counting my macros those days. I will have no care in the world for anything other than how much good food I can possibly eat in one day. Having said this, that means I will be on point as always for every other day over the next couple of months. Will I graze on some cookies here and there? Sure, but I'll make sure they are fitting in my macro and calorie goals for the day. You guys need to be doing the same. People don't gain weight because they go nuts for three days out of two months. They gain weight because they go nuts every single day for two months straight. Here is the honest truth. If gaining ten+ pounds during the holidays is a consistent issue, it's not the holidays that's the problem. The problem is your willingness to justify binge eating for an extended period of time.

All of these tips are simple, so they must be done. If you truly want to have the best of both worlds, you'll stick to this. So once those holidays come, go crazy. Eat like you never have before. Then go to the gym and crush every single workout. Crush every single meal in the kitchen. Stay on track. You'll be jollier than Santa ever could be, trust me. 

For more holiday advice, give me a follow and subscribe to the YouTube channel! Thanks for reading!

This Fat Loss Tip Just Might Save You

This one will be a quickie...

As more and more people have been directed to me, whether it's for online coaching or a simple question, their inquiries are usually centered around fat loss. I approach all of these answers the same with a simple go-getter attitude. I ask them what their diet looks like now, what they need to change, and I do it all while avoiding excessive sugar coating. You either want the results, or you don't. It's that simple.

But as we all know, the human body is very complex. Thus, I need solid science and research to support the claims that I make sometimes. My periodic "bro-science" approach can't be used all of the time. Having said this, there are most definitely pieces of advice that I give that can be backed up by science. DON'T GET AHEAD OF ME. I'm not claiming to say that my coaching is purely based from lab-testing standpoint. Eventually practicality comes into play and I like to think my brand meets at the crossroads of nerd-science and bro-science. 

So, when I'm questioned for fat loss tips and the individual is crushing their macronutrient consumption, here's what I say to them: Begin thinking about your meals differently, by combining your macronutrients accordingly. Your meals should be based around protein, carbs, and fats like I've always said, but now your meals will be focused on combinations.

The combinations I'm speaking of are P&C meals (protein and carb) as well as P&F meals (protein and fat). Why, though? Well getting into the science of it all, there is evidence that shows combining carbs and fat in meals can lead to more fat storage from the insulin release. Insulin is a fat storage hormone. So avoiding the combination of fats and carbs has been shown to yield a small increase in fat loss results. But there are many gurus out there who claim that this isn't really true, because fat does not need insulin to store fat. Fat can store fat all by itself.  So why would I ask you to combine your foods like this? Here's where practicality comes into play.

Changing your meals to adhere to a more focused approach can completely change the way you think about your food. You'll be forced to actually stop and THINK about what you're eating before you eat it. Not only will this approach cause you to pay more attention, but it can also help improve your health for the rest of your life. Paying close attention will cause you to memorize more about food. What foods are a good carb source, fat source, and so on. You'll learn which meats are fatty and which are lean. This will enable you to take charge of your cooking and eating for a lifetime. You now control your food. Food no longer controls you. 

To sum it all up, change your approach. Eat meals with P&C combinations, or P&F combinations. This will help you keep your body from storing extra fat, as well as give you the ability to take control of your nutrition. 

For more tips and advice, follow me and subscribe to my YouTube channel! Thanks for reading!

Can Training and Drinking Live in Harmony?

To booze or not to booze? That is the question of the day. As more people come to me for fitness help, I find myself answering questions about alcohol a lot. People enjoy drinking, eating, and training (most likely in that order) but can alcohol have a place in life when you're trying to reach a goal? My immediate answer is this: It can, but it most certainly shouldn't. 

There are many factors that come into play when it comes to drinking alcohol and reaching a fitness goal. For example, are you a 25 year-old, 230 pound bodybuilder trying to reach 5% body fat? Or are you a 130 pound mom that's just trying to drop a couple of pounds before a vacation? The place at which you start has a lot to do with determining if alcohol consumption is "safe" for you and your goal. Having said this, I will tell you that no amount of alcohol is going to bring any sort of significant benefit to your performance no matter where your starting point is. So, what negative effects does it actually have on your training regimen? 

1. Protein Synthesis

If you've read my articles before, I'm sure you've come across the terms anabolic and catabolic. When your body is in an anabolic state, it is considered to be in a muscle-building state. Whereas catabolic is the breaking down of muscle. Alcohol has a negative effect on anabolism and protein synthesis. While alcohol is in your system, it makes it much harder for the body to absorb protein which could impact your performance, ability to build/maintain muscle, as well as recovery. Even if you're not a bro that's all about his gainz, I would stray away from booze for this reason. 

2. Fat Oxidation

It seems to me that a lot of us are only concerned with the nutrition breakdown of the alcohol we consume. I hear a lot of things like  "it only has 100 calories", "it's ok I worked out earlier", "no worries, it only has 10 grams of carbs!" Well, there's a problem with this. When you drink alcohol, it's not the sugars, carbs, and calories you should be so worried about. It's the alcohol itself. And remember, the effects it has on your body don't just happen when its consumed. These effects can last the whole entire time your body is processing it. 

Believe it or not, your body is at work to burn excess fat even when you're not working out. When you drink alcohol, your body immediately changes gears and treats processing the alcohol as its number one priority. This can cause fat oxidation (your body's ability to burn fat) levels to decrease significantly. And when I say significantly, I mean by 50% or more. Do you really want to tell your body to take it easy in the fat burning department?

3. Hydration

If you don't know already, proper hydration plays a huge role in your fitness outside of your performance. It allows our minds to function properly, and allows our body to properly burn fat. So what does alcohol do to hydration even if you're not drinking an excessive amount? 

Although alcohol is extremely hard on the liver, your kidneys take a pretty big hit too. Our kidneys take in a big portion of water while alcohol is metabolized, which means there's much less for your body to use for every other necessary function. Poor hydration can lead to decreased athletic performance, fat metabolism, and more. 

Closing Remarks

Want a drink with your friends on occasion? Go for it. But take this article into consideration when you're trying to reach a goal. Assess your decisions. Where are your priorities?

If you have more questions you'd like to have answered, please send an email to adam@poehlmannfitness.com, or follow me to learn more!

Thanks for reading!