Did I just post a Holiday picture pre-Halloween? I sure did! This is the time of year where my clients and I discuss dropping extra pounds before all the Holiday madness starts. As we know all too well, the Holiday season is shoved in our faces along with all the cookies, cakes, and rich foods. Families visit, companies have parties, and all hope of losing weight goes out the window. But there is always next year right? You mean January?? As in 3 months from now?? This actually turns into 4 months from now as many people “need” time to catch up on life before returning to the gym. Sounds like a lot of excuses doesn’t it? YES. There are always excuses not go to the gym or eat right, but the Holiday Season is a tough time to drop weight. It’s best to just focus on maintaining your fitness during the Holidays, but now is the time to get working on losing that 10lbs you’ve always wanted to lose. 10 pounds in 2 months Can more be lost? Yes, but this is a better and attainable goal that can be maintained. Hit the weights hard for 30 mins, 2-3x/week: A quick, hard weight training workout can provide accelerated fat loss with minimal stress to the body. This will help you add or preserve precious muscle so you look lean versus skinny and flabby. In 30 minutes you can hit all the basic movements or focus on a set of muscles.
1 Comment
When it comes to cardio, intense Intervals always produce better results for fat loss than moderate intensity-long duration aerobic exercise (steady-state). Everyone I knew who made the switch to an interval or sprinting program greatly increased fat loss. A recent study found, “Despite its lower energy cost, the decrease in the sum of six subcutaneous skinfolds induced by an interval training programme was 9-fold greater than the group performing 30–45 minutes of sustained aerobic exercise”(2) Now there is some controversy with this study, but overall there is a consensus that this concept holds true. Summer is Right Around the Corner The first day of Summer is right around the corner and many people are thinking of losing weight or getting leaner for this eventful season. If you have a goal of getting in shape for Summer, now is the time to start. Summer officially starts on June 21st which leaves you roughly 2 months to get in shape. As a personal trainer, I have people come up to me every year in June saying, “I need to get in shape for Summer!” Although I love the enthusiasm, they have the impossible expectation to go through a major body transformation in 3 weeks. This amount of time will get you a great start, but in reality the amount of visual change will be small. You should give yourself a solid 2-3 months of consistent workouts and sound nutrition if you want to make a big difference by summertime. Summer events are always great motivation to get in shape because they serve as a specific goal date. Many times we have a set date like a wedding, 4th of July, family reunion, or in my case an annual Birthday pool party. Like any goal, you should have a specific date of when to achieve your fitness goals in order to keep yourself accountable to your results. For years my friends and I used a pool party at the beginning of the summer to keep us motivated and accountable. We frequently reminded ourselves for 3 months of our desired fitness level by the day of the party. This kept us accountable to our workouts and helped us resist unhealthy foods. Your Fitness Timeline Most people can lose 1-2 pounds of bodyfat per week. Depending on when you want to lose the weight, you have 2-3 months if you start now in April. Losing 1-2 lbs per week, for 8 weeks, results in 8-16lbs lost; in 3 months time (assuming 13 weeks), results in 13-26lbs lost. Does losing 10-25lbs sound like your weight-loss goal by Summer? If so, you must start on your weight-loss/ fat-loss program now. A big part of a weight-loss program is planning. Like many goals, know your goal date and work backwards from it. Also factor in any “dead time” that will delay your results. You will find that in order to achieve your goal by your desired date, you may have to start sooner than expected. You CAN achieve your Summer body this year! For more information on weight-loss/fat-loss programs contact Jerry Have you every felt the need to eat sweets, pastries, chips, or other calorie-dense foods after a night inadequate of sleep? Have you ever felt hungry after eating in the same situation? These are common effects of getting too little sleep.
Ghrelin, Leptin, and Sleep The reason why we tend to gravitate to the pastries the day following a short night sleep is a hormonal response. The two hormones responsible for this are ghrelin and leptin. Ghrelin stimulates appetite while leptin produces a feeling of fullness.(1) When you get a shortened night of sleep, levels of ghrelin increase while levels leptin decrease.(1,2,3) Studies have shown that individuals with habitual sleep of 5 hours compared to those of 8 hours had 14.9% higher ghrelin levels and 15.5% lower leptin levels.(2) This creates a double dose of food cravings matched up with the feeling of being less satisfied after eating. What can be worse than having a strong craving for a donut, not feeling satisfied after eating it, and knowing that you had just blown your diet. We are now fully emerged in the Holiday season which means the Holiday treats are all around us. Although the Holiday season is filled with excessive food and many parties, there are only a few actual days of celebration in the season. This means you still have time this month to be “good”. Think of all the days from now until the next Holiday. Chances are you have one, two, or even three weeks until the next big holiday event. This leaves many days before and between Holidays to eat healthy and workout. If you make these days count, then parties, family get-togethers, and feasts will make little impact on common weight gains this season.
It’s All About Maintaining this Time of Year Let’s face it, the Holiday season is a near impossible time to lose weight. Unless you sit at home during each party, leave early at family get-togethers, and yell at everyone who offers you a holiday treat, you probably won’t be losing 10 pounds this season. Basically you would have to be Mr. Grinch to lose weight during the Holidays. With many Holiday events coming up, it is a personal victory just to maintain ones weight. This however still takes work. Here is a sample holiday events calendar with various parties, family functions, common holidays, and yes, your workouts. |
AuthorJerry Yuhara, CPT, CSCS, CMT #75123 Categories
All
JY Fitness
299 California Ave, Suite 120 Palo Alto, CA 94306 650-485-1240 contact@jyfit.com Contact Copyright JY Fitness 2024, All Rights Reserved. Find us on Nextdoor.com
|