Get Your Christmas Ducks In a Row

Well your coming out of your off-season, your getting back in the groove of training. You have also probably put on a little weight. Well at least I hope you have. There is just no need to stay at race weight all year long. Hopefully your recovered. But that little weight you put on has the possibility to turn into a bunch if you don't have your ducks in a row before the festivus season.

I have been involved with focused endurance training for 6 years now. I have tried to deal with Christmas in many different ways.

• Dont care and pack on a ton of weight
• Try and do huge workouts the day of family gatherings
• Starve myself through the whole season

None of these work, so don't waste your time. But through my ketotic dieting adventure this last year I have come up with a few decent strategies that allowed me to enjoy events and not go totally off the rails. So here they are.

Write out a plan:

Yes physically write out a plan of how you are going to approach the event. Be descriptive put yourself in the feelings of how you will feel visualize it, and remind yourself how you will feel if you over eat or drink.

Practice:

Great you have a plan now practice it. You have a month before the week of Christmas/ New years. Practice it. Life will give you many opportunities.

Limit Choices not Portions:

This one works well. Since Christmas dinners usually consist of potlucks there is a massive variety of food, and the mind being the way it is wants a little piece of all of them. Use this opportunity to breath slow down and limit your choices, and say you can have as much as you like. What you hopefully will find is that by limiting the choices you will get tired of the same taste in turn will generally eat less. If you know portion control is an issue then set up a limit for this as well such as I can have as much as I want as long as it fits on a coffee saucer! This will inevitable make the portions smaller and force you to think every time you go back up to stuff your cake hole

Set a weight limit:

Set a weight gain limit safe bet is 8% above your in-season weight. ex race weight: 180 max gain limit: 14lbs 194lbs.  Hopefully you haven't put this all on already. I like to use 10lb as a nice round number.

Set a time limit:

No more eating after 7:30 PM. Period. There is really just no need.

Socialize:

Once you have your coffee saucer plate put it down, chug a huge glass of water and then find out how your parents are doing. Maybe you can help clean up? Engage yourself in the event, its not only about food, despite what it has been worked up to be.

Dont tell anyone what your doing:

Your a triathlete, you have a ton of discipline, but maybe you also like to brag....... DON'T. Dont tell anyone what your doing. People are funny, even if there not training for endurance  sport and they are totally happy, they might get offend by the choices your making for you. Read that again. The choices your making for YOU.  Just because someone else is letting it rip doesn't mean you have to join, as bad as THEY may want you to. So use some of that discipline keep the goals to yourself, use the happiness that's brewing up inside and share it with others.

So there you have it a couple simple tips to help conquer one of the toughest mental parts of the season, and not become Fatty McButter Pants. As an added bonus leave a comment with your plan, I will hold you to it! I want to see you succeed and I am sure others do as well. So until next time, Keep on keeping on, Wishing you health and happiness this Holiday season.


Davis




All that temptation is temporary. On the other side of pain is success.