Holiday weight goals

My roomate came home the other night with several bags of mixed candy. You know, the individually wrapped miniature Snickers, Kit Kats, Crunch bars, etc. Oh, and Reese Cups of course too. As the bags of candy were unloaded into dishes found in nearly every room of the house I thought to myself "And so it begins...". By this I mean the holiday season (which I consider mid-October through January 1).

A huge part of what I do is to help people lose weight and keep it off. Dietitians dread this time of year. The weather is turning cooler and fresh salads and fruits from the garden and farmer's markets that taste soooo good on that hot and humid summer day, mysteriously evolve into creamy soups and casseroles. Not that soups and casseroles cant be healthy, but I'm a realist. You know you dont make them that way.

And then comes Thanksgiving. And if for one meal you want to go hog wild then by all means, go for it. But the problem is that the odds are good that you won't be attending just ONE Thanksgiving feast. And of course there are NEVER any leftovers.

Now starts the Holiday parties. Maybe its the office party where everyone brings in their "signature" dish. By signature I mean loaded with butter, sugar, refined grains, and cheese.... maybe all of the above. Pile this on top of the never-ending birthday celebrations, anniversaries, etc and it adds up faster than you can imagine. Never mind now that it's cold outside, we are much less active. It's no wonder the airline industry actually calculates the average weight of a person to increase by 10 POUNDS over the holiday season. True story. Weights and balances are extrememly important to airlines and they really do this.

So Take Home Message: Set your goals for this time of year to be moderate at best. If you are trying to lose weight over these next couple of months, dont expect great results. AND THAT'S OK! This is the time of year to focus of WEIGHT MANINTENCE. If you are able to maintain weight until January 1st (when you will surely kill it), you have absolutely succeeded.

Rest days

I was shooting the breeze with my trainer a couple of weeks ago between sets and we got on the topic of the importance of "rest days". And yes, I have a personal trainer... he's able to see what I suck at and get me better, whereas I tend to design programs for myself around the exercises I like and am good at. In other words, I work on what he refers to as "mirror muscles" and he helps me train the ones you can't see but are just as, if not more, important. Either way... rest days. We were both in agreement that they were necessary. Why are they necessary you ask?

The body does not grow during workouts. Workouts create the stimulus for which the body can grow. This is done with adequate sleep (deep, REM sleep creates a state in which growth hormone is highest) and proper NUTRITION.

After about a 90 second rest, I was back to front squats and the subject wasnt really discussed much after that. But after I got home, I got to thinking about it more. What exactly specifies a "rest day"? When should they be taken? How often? What about people who are two-a-dayers? What intensity and duration justifies resting?

I think we all to often overlook these questions. And I'm afraid that some people use it as an "out". For example, "Well, I ran 3 miles on Monday and did pilates yesterday so I'm pretty good for this week. I NEED REST." And the truth is, for many people just starting out, that may be the case. But for most of us, I don't think so. I've mentioned before that I like the "break a sweat everyday" theory that has been made famous by Matthew McConaughey because it gets you moving everyday to at least some extent.

The Take Home Message here is: Resting is important for gains and health, but not exercising enough will make resting useless. LISTEN TO YOUR BODY. If you are truly exhausted, irritable, overly sore, or in pain... by all means, REST. But ask yourself this first: Do I really need the rest or am I just being lazy?

*thanks for getting me back on track Joey