Here is how you can prevent the holiday bulge with 3 simple weight loss tips for women. Ok men you can use this too!
3 Tips For Holiday Weight Loss For Women
How am I celebrating the holidays and staying lean till the end of the year? Well, it may come to a bit of a surprise but…I’m going ALL out. If I am at a Christmas party, I have a few drinks, some cheese, crackers and even some chocolate treats. Here is the truth and nothing but the truth…
I am 90% committed to eating a wheat-free diet, using carbohydrates as energy source only, and cutting out all processed and refined foods that are toxic to my body. What happens the other 10%? When I am socializing, maybe it’s out for dinner, a party or on a romantic date with the hubby, I don’t panic when the restaurant does not have my above restrictions.
That’s because I want to have a fun time and eat some ‘not so good for you’ foods here and again. Now, I do usually stay away from foods and drinks with NO nutritious value, but not always. I am human after all.
So here are ways to keep your abs, trim thighs and still partake in the festivities:
1. Plan An Intense ALL OUT Full-Body Workout Before Going Out
Go into the gym with a goal of stripping as many calories as humanly possible. For some workout ideas click here. By doing this, you will create an energy debt that will soon be met by whatever you are going to eat at your social gathering, minimizing the damage of the excess calories you will consume.
Your calories will go towards re-building your muscles…exactly what you want them to do!
2. Workout First Thing The Next Morning
Drink and be merry, but…no matter how you are feeling the next morning, YOU MUST WORKOUT!
Hungover or not (hopefully not), you still have to get out of bed and hit the weights. You will have so much extra glycogen, so use this time to move it into your muscles and make some use out of it.
I do this whenever I have a meal that is high in carbs that doesn’t follow my weight training. By doing this, you will shovel the energy into the muscle and cause some serious muscle repair. HIT THE WEIGHTS HARD. You should have a lot of energy to lift heavy and with intensity (this is why I don’t drink a lot, otherwise I would likely puke doing this).
3. Have 3 Low Carbohydrate Days Following Your Party
If you have The Deadline Diet, use it for 3 days (the low days only). Here you will deplete your extra glycogen stores and will be in a low weekly deficit or you will meet your metabolic needs this week and be no further behind.
For these 3 days, eat only vegetables for your carbohydrates. Eliminate grains and complex carbohydrates for these 3 days only. There are no restrictions on vegetables. EAT YOUR 2 SERVINGS OF VEGGIES WITH EVERY MEAL. Keeping your veggies in your diet will also help to detox your body. See detox-for-optimal-health for more strategies.
And there you have it! 3 simple ways to still loss weight over the holidays ladies. Comments and questions are welcome below.
Happy Holidays!
Thanks Flavia, some great tips! This Christmas day I will probably go all out and eat all I want then fast the next day. 🙂 I will do a hard muscle workout on my treat day then intense cardio on my fast day. Thanks for promptly replying to my e-mails, your the best!
This is off the topic today but if anyone finds a good “greens” supplement WITHOUT wheat, I would love to know about it. Unfortunately, most of them have wheat grass in it (even though they may be gluten free).
I’m currently using Catie’s organic, gluten free Greens, which does not have wheat grass in it (they also have another organic, regular greens one which has been reported to taste better). Great small company. If anyone is interested…
http://www.energyessentials.com/catalog/caties-organic-gluten-free-greens-p-157.html
Hi Melanie, I take athletic greens and I’m pretty sure that it is free from dairy, egg, wheat, gluten, soy, yeast etc. just go to athleticgreens.com to order, hope that helped!
I use Althletic Greens as well and I do love it. Here is the link if you want to check it out: http://www.athleticgreens.com
and it’s wheat and dairy free!
thanks, Flavia! I appreciate your great ideas on this, after all, none of us are perfect (or even want to be!) I’m going to try to stick to my raw food vegan diet during the holidays…but I DO love chocolate….and the working out before a party idea is great! (perfection can lead to a boring life!)
Hi Flavia!
I’m from South Africa and it is way to expensive to purchase the greens drinks e.g the new Genesis. We don’t have such drinks available on our market (that I know of). Do you have any recipe that I can follow to make my own? Thank you so much.
Ps: I love your posts.
Yolanda
Great post Flavia.
Some great advice which i will pass on to my bootcamp ladies
cheers
Hi,
Great to see the article titled “3 Simple Holiday Weight loss Tips For Women”. Really it’s another unique weight loss article with additional information. Could we expect more updated weight loss blog in upcoming future????
Wish a very happy and blessed Christ Mass!
Hey Flavia, Thank you so much for all your your help and advice! I am feeling much better today. One last question then I’ll try not to bother you for a while: Before I got sick I was planning on having a treat day Christmas day then fasting Monday. So Christmas I would be eating stuff like pigs in a blanket, cheese dip and sausage balls for breakfast, then for lunch Biscuits & gravy, sweet peas, and chocolate chip cookies, Then for supper turkey and dressing, macaroni & cheese, and some peanut butter cake. Somewhere in between all that I might eat some fruit or something healthier as well. I was wondering would it still be ok to do the treat day/ fast day and eat all that stuff or since I’m just recovering from being sick and having to take antibiotics would it be really bad for me to do that? Thanks!
Hey Anna, I’m glad you are feeling better! I would still enjoy yourself…one thing to do is have a greens drink and hit yourself up with all those things I mentioned in 7 Ways To Boost Your Immune System. That will help your body fight against the sugar 🙂 Merry Christmas
Thanks you so much! A very Merry Christmas to you too!
Thanks for those great tips, I used them all but added a fast day after the horrible/amazing binge day.
Just wondering what your opinion is on regular fasting. My understanding is that it has great health benefits, I currently include 2 24hr fasts a week, which is difficult, but something I am prepared to do if it speeds up fat loss. Do you think this is effective?
Hey Channii, I think 2 fast days a week is too much. You must make sure you get enough nutrients. I do believe fast days are very healthy but 2 days a month is what I strive for.
Hey Flavia,
About 1 – am I ok to workout an hour and a half before going out?
Thank you 🙂
Hey Jabeen,
that should be just fine 🙂 You may still want to consume some BCAAs or whey protein right after your workout so your muscles will have enough protein to recover.
All the best!
Anna, CPT, FF Specialist
Awesome that’s great and thanks for the advice and just in general for responding so soon to all my questions on the blog I really appreciate it AND all of your recommendations especially about the inositol I can’t thank you enough for that one lol and I’ve got to say this is my fav blog on the fat loss side atleast!
Thanks again Anna 🙂