Seven Tips to Survive Thanksgiving

It’s that time of year. It’s the holidays. Family, friends and awesome food. But most of you will freak out about the holiday weight gain. Just google Thanksgiving and weight gain and you’ll come up with a ton of articles on how to stay thin for the holidays. They say the average thanksgiving meal is 3,500 calories. Sounds like a solid bulking session if you ask me. But in all seriousness unless you are dieting down for a bodybuilding show enjoy Thanksgiving. Enjoy the food. Enjoy the company. You won’t gain any weight from one day of cheat meals. It’s not going to sabotage your gains bro, I promise. Stop worrying about cutting 100 calories if you don’t eat the crust with your pie. You’ve been training extremely hard all year, well most of us have and you should be able to enjoy the holidays with your friends and family instead of being miserable over thinking you can’t eat all the good food because you’ll instantly get fat. Sorry the body doesn’t get fat in one day nor in one meal. It’s science so that means it’s true. Now I’m not saying stuff your face till you are so uncomfortable that you can’t move, I mean thats what my training partners and I will do but I don’t suggest that to any of you. So here are

Seven Tips to Survive Thanksgiving

1: Portion control. Select your favorite foods that you can’t live without and select reasonable-sized protions. I suggest you don’t waste your calories on foods you can have all year though, eat the foods that only come out once a year. But here is a secret if you keep your portions small, you can enjoy whatever you like.

2: Workout Thanksgiving morning on an empty stomach. Have it be a serious weight session or just a walk. Get some exercise in and do it on an empty stomach. Your gains will be alright. I’m a big fan of training in a fasted state because it works.

3: Your best bets if you are concerned are white meat, plain veggies, sweet potatoes (not the sweet potato casserole with marshmallows, maple syurp and all that), mashed potatoes, defatted gravy and that delicious pumpkin pie. Those tend to be lower in fat and calories.

4: Don’t inhale your food. Eat slow. Enjoy the conversation at the table. Actually taste and enjoy the food.

5: Eat in the afternoon. Spread the fest out all day. After dinner go outside. Go for a walk. Play football. Enjoy the cool weather. After that come in and have dessert. Watch a movie. Don’t try and cram 4,000 calories into one sitting.

6: Relax on the sugary drinks and alcohol. A lot of calories in drinks and they add up quick.

7: Don’t focus on food. Don’t focus on weight gain (unless you are bulking) or weight loss. Enjoy your friends. Enjoy your family. Celebrate and be thankful for your friends and family. That’s what this holiday is all about.

Happy Thanksgiving

Coach B