Training and Dieting around the Holidays

[Ken "Skip" Hill Judge, Jury and Executioner Find all posts View Profile Close Ken "Skip" Hill]

I won't rant about this but PLEASE, for the love of God, enjoy yourselves a bit for the next couple of weeks. I tire of seeing tweets and posts on FB about "How to stay on your diet during the Holidays" - who gives a shit?? Unless you are getting ready for a show you should be enjoying the 3 Fs: family, friends and food. You have the other 50 weeks out of the year to obsess about your diet and training.

And please don't start the "I might get fat" crap, either. If you have that bad of a body image then by all means, keep doing 10 sessions of cardio and eating perfectly. The rest of us are going to enjoy the Holidays because they come once a year and the rest of us understand that sometimes there are more important things in this world than eating perfectly and not missing a workout.

I am not saying that everyone should shovel in food until they are sick and drink themselves under the table (though I do know plenty of people that will do that). You should still have control but enjoy yourself. I know I will and I won't give it a second thought. I hope all of you have a great Holiday Season and that you get to enjoy the 3 Fs.

Skip

[Heckman Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Heckman]

That post just made the fudge and chocolate bisquits taste a whole lot better...lol

[bigdelavern Intense Muscle Competitor Find all posts View Profile Close bigdelavern]

Best message to give around this time of year

[grammo13 Lightweight Member Find all posts View Profile Close grammo13]

Happy Holidays to everyone here, enjoy it!

Sent from my R800x

[mentalflex ISOM Winner February 2012 Find all posts View Profile Close mentalflex]

So nice to see a coach use LOGIC and the concept of living. I can use a few extra pounds anyway

[RedSkull TEAMSKIP.net web designer Find all posts View Profile Close RedSkull]

So nice to see a coach use LOGIC and the concept of living.

x2

[TLopez Intense Muscle Competitive Powerlifter 1260 total in the 165 class / ISOM Old School Winner December 2013 Find all posts View Profile Close TLopez]

Already started!

[steel1970 Intense Muscle Competitor Find all posts View Profile Close steel1970]

I like belly fat anyway.....who needs abs when you've been married for almost 15 years?...I'd rather enjoy all the cookies that my wife bakes...

[zalex999 Lightweight Member Find all posts View Profile Close zalex999]

Since it was one of my favorite reads on your blog, and this board can always use a little more rant im gonna copy this over from a couple years back:

The Holidays And The Three F’s

Thursday, November 19th, 2009

I have been getting a lot of questions from clients, on the board and even friends asking me my perspective on the Holidays as it relates to their training and nutrition. So, I figured it would be a nice topic for another blog entry as I am short on ideas lately, it seems.

I used to be that guy that wouldn’t eat a bite of anything bad or miss a workout between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I remember getting pissed that the gym would close early on Christmas Eve and that it was closed all day Thanksgiving. Of course, in my mind everyone was a bodybuilder so it made little sense to me. As I grew up my perspective changed and evolved into a more logical approach to such an important time of the year.

As far as I am concerned the Holidays are a time to spend with family where you actually get a chance to slow down and just sit around doing nothing more than being with the people that are important to you. The Holidays traditionally involve the three F’s – a lot of tasty FOOD, FOOTBALL and FAMILY – not necessarily in that order. There are few days during the year where it is ok to throw out your training and diet but the Holidays are the exception. If you are not doing a show and you are worried more about your training and diet than simply spending time with loved ones and enjoying a nice meal, your priorities are out of whack. I think it is commendable that you may want to stay with your routine and stay “on track” but throwing a day or two for Thanksgiving and a couple days for Christmas is hardly going to ruin anyone’s condition or have you detrained any time soon.

I give my clients that aren’t prepping (and very few are at this time of the year, anyway) permission to not even think about their diet for these days. Eat what you want and enjoy the food including desserts. I won’t give up my pecan pie for ANYTHING. If I still want to get my workouts in then I simply change my schedule around for that week to accommodate the extra workout but there are times I won’t even do that and just simply skip the workout.

You can do what you want to but I am here to tell you that I will be loading up my plate with a lot of things from brown sugar-covered sweet potatoes to green bean casserole, ham and pecan pie. We do ham instead of turkey. Why? Because turkey is too damned lean. It is the Holidays and, dammit, I want some fat-assed ham so that I can make ham sandwiches the day after and maybe even put ham in an omelet if I feel like it. Come the first week of January it is game on again and everything can be 100% at that point. It took me a long time but my priorities are straight and nothing matters more to me than spending time with my family during the Holidays and enjoying myself. There are eleven other months to focus on training and diet. I hope you feel the same way, too. Happy Holidays!

Skip

[BigCat61 Lightweight Member Find all posts View Profile Close BigCat61]

Great advice!

[DCBliever Intense Muscle Competitor Find all posts View Profile Close DCBliever]

Damn! It's not 2 weeks of dieting and 50 weeks of eating? Now you tell me! WTF! Happy Holidays IM! Happy Merry Kwanzamaskah!

[Sammich Moderator/Intense Muscle Competitive Powerlifter 275lb Raw Club Total 1625 Find all posts View Profile Close Sammich]

I am not saying that everyone should shovel in food until they are sick and drink themselves under the table (though I do know plenty of people that will do that)

sup

[Michael Travis Intense Muscle Competitor Find all posts View Profile Close Michael Travis]

Permission to copy/paste to my FB, giving you full credit of course.. Some of my friends need a loving kick in the ass to enjoy themselves this time of year.

Great Post at the right time


MT

[Duro New Member Find all posts View Profile Close Duro]

I won't be traveling or anything this year so its really not any inconvenience to keep the diet/training on point. Was out in Vegas last NYE, so that's a different story...

[DCBliever Intense Muscle Competitor Find all posts View Profile Close DCBliever]

I won't be traveling or anything this year so its really not any inconvenience to keep the diet/training on point. Was out in Vegas last NYE, so that's a different story...

If your by yourself that's more of a reason to eat drink be merry and watch porn.............