Natural Bodybuilders - How To Remain Healthy This Christmas

With the holidays come two things that can hinder your fitness and health progress: extra food that may or may not be healthy and judgmental, sensitive family members. They say for any noble pursuit, there are tough obstacles you must beat. And during the holidays, sometimes the remarks and comments about your new eating plan is worse than the tempting food itself. So, to help natural bodybuilders like you handle the holidays better and remain healthy, here are some helpful tips.

1. HAVE A CHEATING PLAN

Unless you're so disciplined, or so sensitive like me to junky foods, it would be tough to tell yourself you're not going to cheat at all, because then if you do slip up, you may feel guilty, then get upset with yourself, and then just say, " I've already cheated, so now I might as well go all the way." That's not what we want, so that is why you should say something like, "Okay, I'll have a small serving of stuffing, and half a slice of apple pie. And that's it." That's more realistic, and therefore more doable.

2. DON'T STARVE YOURSELF ALL DAY LEADING UP TO THE BIG DINNER

Although partial fasts can be good for you because of the detox factors, doing it right before the big dinner is definitely not the time to do it. That will only slow your metabolism, causing your body to burn muscle for energy, and will lead to it storing more of your dinner calories as fat. Instead, eat as you normally would - a breakfast, a lunch, maybe a few healthy snacks in between.

3. CUT DOWN ON THE CARBS FOR THE MEALS LEADING UP TO THE DINNER, AS WELL AS THE MEALS THE DAY AFTER

Although I just said to make sure you eat and don't starve yourself, if your goal is to keep from gaining any weight back and reducing the toxic load the holidays put on us, then you can keep your metabolism going by having meals of protein, fats, and low-glycemic carbs (vegetables).

4. DRINK LOTS OF WATER

While water is always important, drinking it around a potentially toxic meal is even more important.

5. CONSUME EXTRA FIBRE

If you have Super Seed or psyllium husk or another fiber supplement, take extra servings before and after the big meal, to help bind up as much of the crap as possible for elimination (if you're going out of town, pack it along; it's not too big).

6. BRING A HEALTHY VERSION

If you'll be celebrating at someone else's home, and you plan to bring a side dish or dessert, bring along a healthy version of the dish that will tempt you the most. For example, if you can't say no to stuffing, but know it's not healthy due to the refined flours in the breadcrumbs and all the pesticides in every other ingredient, make your own. Use organic whole grain bread crumbs and organic vegetables. Or, if it's apple pie that gets you, make your own version using apples, organic rice flour, and honey instead of the usual sugar, white flour and syrupy apples. Usually, the people at your local health food store can even help you with the recipe.

7. GOBBLE UP THE TURKEY FIRST

Before you dig into the mashed potatoes, stuffing, and other foods high in refined carbs and bad fats, eat a lot of the turkey first. It will fill you up faster, and will help you better gauge how much crap to eat. Then go for the steamed vegetables, roasted potatoes, and yams. But if you sit down hungry, and you go for the macaroni and cheese, you won't fill up and may just keep going.

8. AVOID THE MACARONI AND CHEESE

There is nothing in it that is good for you unless it's made with whole grain pasta and organic cheese, which is usually not the case. And it's just a lot of extra high-glycemic carbs that will send your insulin into overdrive. And since it's not as traditional as Aunt Betty's apple pie, it's easier to give up without hearing a comment from whoever made it.

9. EAT THE CRAP IN ONE HOUR

If you have to cheat, try to eat all the crap within a one-hour time frame, because it reduces the insulin damage and as a result the storage of fat as well.

10. ASK THE RIGHT QUESTIONS

When you're not sure what's in something (for example, while squash is great for you, many times people add sugar and butter and maybe even margarine), instead of saying, "Oh, I'm on a diet, so I need to know what's in that," ask, "Hey, that looks great. How'd you make it?"

11. USE THE RIGHT ARGUMENT

If you somehow get into a discussion about healthy eating, don't expect to win it, especially if the family member is older than you. I'm a personal trainer, and most of my family still thinks this natural, organic thing is wacky. So here's a better way to handle it: If you've been eating healthy for more than a month now, more than likely your body will be extra sensitive to crappy food, like mine is. While I get a sore throat and sinus congestion, you may get an upset stomach, diarrhea, itchy skin, a bad headache, or just extra fatigued. So instead of telling someone that you're eating healthier now and that they should, too, just say that you actually get a reaction now when you have refined flour, or too much sugar, .or processed dairy, or whatever it is. That way, you're not criticizing how they eat, and you're still being honest.

12. REMEMBER HOW OFTEN YOU SEE THEM

If you only see these people once a year, and they are likely to actually get upset with you for not eating like them, then is distance really the only reason you just see them once a year? So unless it's your Grandma's dying wish that you eat the whole apple pie, don't sacrifice your health just to please people only once a year. If they're truly loved ones, then they'll love you even if you say no.

13. CONSIDER DOING A DETOX A FEW DAYS AFTER

There are two common misconceptions about the big holiday meals: 1) People tell themselves, "Oh, I'll just do extra cardio over the weekend and burn this all off." 2) They jump on the scale the next morning and say, "It took me months to lose five pounds, and now I've gained it all back". First of all, most people won't even gain a pound of fat from the dinner and desert combined. There are 3500 calories in a pound, and most people don't even eat that much in one whole day of 5-6 meals. Most of the weight you will gain will be water weight, so the work you have done won't be ruined IF YOU HANDLE IT RIGHT.

The reason doing extra cardio usually doesn't work is because it's not the calories that are hurting you. It's the toxins from the pesticides, antibiotics, and hormones in the food, as well as the refined carbs, sugars, and hydrogenated oils that burden your detoxifying organs that will really hinder you. When your detox organs - your liver, kidneys, skin, and lungs have such an extra burden to process, then your metabolism can slow down, which causes that extra cardio session to be much less productive. So instead of planning to do extra cardio, plan to do a detox that will help rid your body of the toxins, and get it ready to start burning fat more efficiently again.

14. FORGIVE YOURSELF

No matter what happens, just forgive yourself for any mistakes (just don't take this one too far), and get back to your natural bodybuilding plan.

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