If you've spent more than 3 minutes at Urban Fitness, you will know how seriously we all take eating. Take a few more minutes to start chatting with any of the coaches and one thing will become abundantly clear: we love food.
With the holidays being what they are, especially in the Bay Area--a.k.a. the hipster-fueled mecca of deliciousness--our love for food has the potential to fly headlong into a month-and-a-half festival of over-indulgence. And that, my friends, does not bode well for Noah fitting into his New Year's outfit this year (photo to come, don't even sweat it).
However, the reality is, by following just a few simple "rules", we can stay 90% on track AND enjoy the season. In this post we will go over the most important of these rules; check our next post for the last 2 rules and lock-down the last quarter of 2015 like a nutritional Ninja (albeit one who absolutely destroys your aunt's Pecan Pie, and feels awesome about it).
One Food Group to Rule Them All: When it comes to setting up any diet, whether you're shooting to take on this guy:
Hector teaching the ropes a lesson.
or just make it to January without feeling like Jabba the Hut, you had better have a good answer when we ask you how much--and what kind of--protein you're getting. A good rule of thumb is to aim for 4 - 6 palm-sized servings of animal-sourced protein every day, or 6 - 8 palms from vegan sources. This sort of intake will nourish your muscle-tissue, helping make you strong and a round-the-clock calorie-burning monster (a good thing :).
During the holiday-season, when overall food consumption will almost certainly increase, this protein rule becomes extra important. The last thing your body needs when you're pumped full of eggnog and latkes is to be deficient in the stuff that makes--and keeps--lean muscle.
Even beyond keeping your protein-balance (the amount of free protein you have circulating) positive, aiming for that kind of protein intake will give you some direction when building your glorious holiday dinner plates. When you hit that cookie course you'll know you've already done the important part. And who knows? You might just be full enough that 2 cookies does the job!
Check our next post for Part 2, where we dig into a couple other strategies to keep things on track!