Soul Rebel Digest Vol 11.24

🎅Festive Feasting During The Silly Season! 🤶

The way we eat isn't black & white.

You do not need to be ON a diet... you HAVE a diet.

There is no wagon to fall off.

The silly season is upon us & it's important to go into this time of year with some sort of plan or guidelines.

Festivities can start as early November & wrap up as late as February - that's FOUR MONTHS, 25% of a year! So you can imagine if you're eating & drinking like it's Christmas Day every day & you're moving less during this time, the impact this can have on you physically & mentally may be why some people are not getting the results they want in or outside the gym.

So, what can you do to enjoy this time of year, but not blow out?

Don't eat anything processed or sugary.... well... this doesn't sound like a realistic, fun or social plan does it? There are so many foods that have an emotional or nostalgic meaning to us at this time of year. There is NO problem with this. There should be no guilt associated around food, but you need to set yourself some guidelines.

Where the problem lies for people is blending an indulgent day into a week, then into a month, then into the first half of the new year. It's a vicious cycle.

So first, acknowledge what the next few months might look like for you.

November & December is full of social events any day of the week! Let them happen! Indulge & embrace as much or as little as you want to that align with how you want to feel. You work hard all year to celebrate with family, friends & work colleagues!

Here are some tips for you to have FUN this silly season & avoid feeling like crap all summer or gain those Christmas kilos:

When there are days where the are no events, or the meals between events, eat real food, mostly plants & hydrate! This will not only help your body recover from indulging but it will help you build better habits rather than this 'on/off' dieting.

Work out how you like to enjoy your meals. Let's use Christmas Day as an example.
I loovvveee having seconds! Whether it's the main event or dessert time, seconds feels good to me! So, I ensure my plate isn't overflowing the first time. I enjoy having two 'smaller' plates rather than one giant one. Maybe you're someone who doesn't do seconds but you prefer one big plate - find out!

One option is simply not to drink alcohol... Unpopular opinion: I truly believe a lot of people rely on alcohol for having fun (I'm literally taking the words out of my dad's mouth from when I was 16 years old... but... he was right haha). However, many people also really enjoy a cold bev or a glass of red with their dinner, with friends or the summer vibe might simply be calling on you for a nice cold one! In which case, limit the number of drinks you're giving yourself or drink slower to make each drink last longer & experiment with having a glass or two of water between your alcoholic drinks. Not only will your wallet thank you for it, but it will help your body rehydrate & reduce the shitty feeling of a boozy night that would usually followed by poor food choices, achy joints & a bad mood. I don't personally count calories, but I do think it's important to roughly know how much energy a food or drink contains, depending on what you're drinking, a standard drink could be anywhere between 60-300 calories. A lot of people focus on diet in the new year for changes in their body composition or performance in the gym, but it might be what you're drinking that's holding you back.

Training this time of year is HELLA important. I mean, it is all year. But the festive season for many is stressful both mentally & physically. It's important to prioritise movement & MAKE the time to train. It's not about 'burning off what you ate at that Christmas party' or 'earning your drinks for tonight' - this is exactly the mindset you need to avoid, however, let's be honest, if you're eating & drinking like it's Christmas Day for four months of the year & you're moving less, not only will your body composition not be where you want it to be, but you might not realise just how good you could feel & how much energy you could have over this time if you ate well 80% of the time & kept your body moving! Training during this time will also help you combat stress, anxiety & depression that may present itself around Christmas. Booking your classes will help you maintain some normality & structure to your day & can give you more energy to do the fun things like beach days or backyard cricket, instead of food coma on the couch!

Whatever this time of year looks like for you, I hope you get to do what you love with people you care about.