Healthy New Year's Countdown

With a little under 3 weeks left in the year it’s very easy to hit a coasting phase with your diet and fitness. We discussed ways of not adding on the pounds through the holiday season in our last blog, but let’s look at ways to make this time a 3 week jump start to the new year! How much better would you feel if you started it off 5 lbs lighter or 30 seconds faster? Undoubtedly, all of us will make some sort of New Year’s resolution and most of those will include a health and fitness goal. Now that goal may be a new one or it may be the same resolution you’ve used for the past ten years, regardless, the time is now to get it done.  So instead of tanking the remaining 3 weeks and waiting to start let’s kick it into high gear and be ahead of the crowd January 1^st!

When looking at designing short term exercise programs or meal plans we have to go all out. High intensity and dedication is a must! We will have to give maximum effort in order to see results but it will be worth it when you are a size smaller come 2012. First, let’s look at the nutrition side of things. With the exception of Christmas Eve and Christmas day meals your diet should be pretty regular over the next few weeks allowing you to follow the strict restrictions we are going to set.

1.     Eliminate carbs completely after mid afternoon. Doing this will allow your body to use all the carbs you take in during the day as energy and not store those unforgiving night time carbs in your hips or stomach.

2.     Go all natural. If it comes in a package, don’t eat it. We want to increase the amounts of veggies and other natural sources of vitamins and minerals. Cutting out all sugars and toxins will help detox the body and the added fiber will flush the system causing immediately weight loss and “deflation” of the stomach.

3.     Limit calories. We don’t ever want to take our caloric intake under 1200 per day but this is a perfect time to hold strong right at that number. We don’t want to “crash diet” so make sure that all calories taken in are quality calories. Give up your vices and addictions to take in lean meats, veggies and nothing but water (1 gallon a day). Remember we are going all natural as well so this should be easy.

4.     Add in protein shakes. The easiest way to curb cravings and assure you get in the right amount of protein is by adding shakes. Make sure you are going with a low calorie shake; usually 100% whey will work the best. Use them for snacks and for post workout nutrition.

These are all simple, easy to follow restrictions you just have to be conscious effort and stay focused. Track calories for the first day or two to assure you are on track. Keep in mind that these are all ways to lose weight so if your goal is different then you will want to adjust your meal plan accordingly. Follow this plan for the rest of the year allowing yourself a couple of cheat meals on Christmas Eve and Christmas day. Track your progress and see what a difference you can make in just 3 weeks! I will cover the exercise portion of our 3 week plan tomorrow so until then follow these restrictions and get into the holiday spirit while you are BRINGING IT with your fitness!!!