Physique Essentials

Physique Essentials ARTICLE - Festive Nutrition

Last week I introduced the notion of starting your New Year’s Resolution program early to get in control before the actual event arrives. I also know for some that whilst the motivation might be high, putting the plan into action will be incredibly hard. Christmas is getting closer and for me... just today, the prospect of freshly baked goods in my own home has popped up so now I will have the temptations myself.

With all the opportunity and a relaxed environment and mind set, how do we successfully navigate through the festive period whilst staying on track with our health and fitness goals? With education and a plan, or course!

Part of staying on course will be to determine your goals. What is it that you really want to achieve in 2010 and are they realistic? Next comes down to formulating your plan to make these goals a reality:

- How many times a week do I need to do physical exercise
- How do I need to structure my nutritional plan

These 2 points (obviously tied together with consistency, focus, determination and effort) are all we have at our disposal to generate the goals that we are looking for, so it pays to understand as much about them as possible. As I have talked about these topics many times in the past too, I won’t focus on them too much – rather on how you can navigate them through a busy festive period?

If you don’t have the time, make time.

A common restriction I will often hear be in the form of time management. “I don’t have the time to exercise”. Of course you do! Remember it can take a little as 20 minutes for effective cardio vascular training, or 35-45 minutes of quality resistance training to generate results. If you look hard enough, you will always find time. My advice would be to look in the mornings before the festive commitments take over. It will seem impossible to excuse yourself from a Christmas party to go to the gym, but you could complete your session before you go? This way you get your session done, stay on track physically and provide the right scenario to stay on track nutritionally.

Nutrition though, will always be the greatest challenge. How good you do will really depend on what you know about the food you are eating as well as being aware of your total consumption over the course of a day. By now you know that when it comes to meal selection; we are looking for lean proteins, lots of plant based foods (i.e. – vegetables) and good sources of fats to make up our meals, so that is what you should be looking for on the buffet plate – not necessarily party pies.

Keep a strong conviction and stay on track. Getting through one Christmas party successfully will provide the momentum to get through the next and so on… and before you know it, 2010 will be here and you will be well and truly in control!

For FREE training, nutrition and overall lifestyle advice, you can contact Josh at www.physique-essentials.com or 0439 884 148