Food is an essential aspect of culture and celebrations. We believe you should be able to enjoy holiday meals with loved ones and not sacrifice your goals.
In this article, we harness our knowledge of fitness and nutrition not only to minimize fat gain and maximize its benefits.
1. Work On Gaining Muscles During The Holidays
As the weather begins to turn colder, your body wants to gain weight to prepare for winter, when food is more scarce. It’s normal to feel hungrier through a few different mechanisms:
- Your body burns more calories in cold weather because it's working harder to keep your core temperature up.[custom-citation id="ref-1"]
- Less sun exposure leads to less vitamin D production. Vitamin D deficiency interferes with leptin, which tells you when you’re full.[custom-citation id="ref-2"]
When the days are shorter, and the weather is colder, you’re probably more tempted to stay in bed a little longer or curl up on the couch. However, because the cold weather makes you hungry for more calories, it’s a great time to harness the weight gain and extra calories for muscle gain.
You can optimize muscle mass through weight lifting and eating enough proteins. Increasing your muscle mass speeds up your metabolism, allowing you to indulge more.[custom-citation id="ref-3"] Greater muscle mass also increases insulin sensitivity, preventing an unhealthy rise in blood sugar and minimizing fat gain.[custom-citation id="ref-4"]
2. Be Mindful Of The Calories
We know that it’s not just “calories in, calories out” when it comes to weight gain. When the excess calories come from carbohydrates or fat, you’re more likely to gain fat. Whereas it’s really difficult to gain fat if your extra calories come from lean proteins.[custom-citation id="ref-5"]
Regardless if your physique goals are your priority, the overall number of calories still matters. You can eat more on some days, and less on others, as long as your overall calories within a week average within your goal range. One way to manage this and still enjoy days when you can indulge is through intermittent fasting or restricting your eating.
There are a few different ways you could do this:
- Intermittent fasting restricts your caloric intake by 60% or more 2-3 days a week or on alternate days.
- Time-restricted eating limits your hours of eating to 8 to 10 hours or less on most days of the week.
- Intermittent restriction restricts your eating to either specific periods of the day or by increasing the time between meals.
- Continuous restriction restricts your caloric intake by 15-60% daily.
A meta-analysis compared these four methods. All four methods produced the same amount of weight loss.[custom-citation id="ref-6"] You get to pick which method works best for you.
Matt controls his overall calories by eating in a caloric deficit five days a week to enjoy eating two days a week. Some people simply enjoy one meal or fast 1 - 2 days a week.
You could also plan around when a holiday event is coming up that you know you’ll want to take advantage of. For example, if you know a party is coming up on Saturday, you could fast until the party or restrict your calories throughout the week, so you’re free to indulge on party day.
Because there are multiple ways to do this, play around and see what works best for your body.
3. Lift Weights, Especially With Legs
I already mentioned that increasing your muscle mass can decrease insulin resistance. It’s even more beneficial when you focus on your legs.
In a study following 299 healthy adults over ten years, scientists compared thigh muscle mass to insulin resistance. Participants with a higher thigh muscle mass were more sensitive to insulin.[custom-citation id="ref-7"] Remember, higher insulin sensitivity means better blood glucose control and less chance of fat gain.
If you don’t have time to make it to the gym to work on your lower body, even a 15-minute walk before and after a big meal is better than nothing.
In a study of 31 males with a BMI of 25 or higher, participants increased their walking by 1,000 steps daily. The increased walking improved participants’ insulin resistance and decreased their belly fat.[custom-citation id="ref-8"] The same is true for women.[custom-citation id="ref-9"]
Walking at a brisk pace for 15 minutes is roughly 2,000 steps. So, if you do that twice a day, you’ll not only be decreasing your insulin resistance and helping to prevent any weight gain, but you could also get rid of some belly fat.
4. Optimize Your Blood Sugar Response
We’ve been discussing the importance of supporting a healthy insulin response. Is there an easy way to give your body even more support? Definitely.
Berberine Breakthrough is formulated to help support healthy glucose metabolism already within the normal range, while also supporting energy metabolism and overall metabolic health.
The formula includes ten carefully selected ingredients:
- Bee Propolis
- Glycostat® Bitter Melon
- Glucovantage® Berberine
- Cinnulin PF®
- Chromium
- InnoSlim®
- Benfotiamine
- Alpha Lipoic Acid
- Gymnema Sylvestre
- Banaba Leaf
Together, these ingredients provide well-rounded metabolic support, helping your body manage carbohydrates efficiently and maintain healthy energy production.
Berberine Breakthrough may also support healthy lipid metabolism already within the normal range and healthy body composition when combined with a balanced diet and regular exercise.
5. Support Your Digestion
Holiday meals don’t have to come with a heavy stomach and the discomfort of overeating. Efficient digestion helps you feel better and allows your body to use nutrients optimally. Poor digestion and unhealthy gut flora can be inflammatory and predispose you to fat gain.[custom-citation id="ref-22"]
Consider supporting your digestion with the following, especially around holiday meals:
Probiotics
Probiotics are a great way to support your digestion. They help support digestive regularity and a healthy, balanced gut microbiome.
Probiotics also support overall gut health, which plays an important role in digestion, metabolism, and overall well-being.
Research has also explored the relationship between probiotics and healthy weight management. Some studies suggest certain probiotic strains may help support healthy body composition when combined with a balanced diet and regular exercise.
Probiotic Lactobacillus plantarum (L. plantarum), in particular, has been studied for its potential role in healthy weight management and body composition. You can find this probiotic in Probiotic Breakthrough, which may help support healthy weight management when combined with healthy nutrition and exercise.
Digestive Enzymes
Taking digestive enzymes helps break down your food to maximize digestion and make more nutrients available. The stress of the holidays can deplete your enzyme reserves. While they don’t directly burn fat, they can improve your energy levels, supporting your drive to work out.
Different enzymes exist for proteins, sugars, fats, starches, and fibers. MassZymes includes plant-based digestive enzymes to break down any food you might encounter. It also has specific enzymes to break down fibers and sugars that are difficult to digest.
As a bonus, MassZymes include systemic protein digestive enzymes easily absorbed into the bloodstream. When you do find the time to get to the gym during the holidays, it can improve your strength gains and recovery.[custom-citation id="ref-26"]
Betaine HCL
Your stomach contains hydrochloric acid, which helps break down food, digest proteins, and maintain the stomach’s normal acidic environment.
Betaine HCl is about 76% betaine and 24% HCl by weight. Some clinical studies have examined betaine supplementation for its potential effects on body composition, although the dosages typically used in these studies can range from 2–6 grams, which is much higher than what you’d get from taking 1–2 capsules of a betaine HCl supplement.
In a meta-analysis of six placebo-controlled studies, 195 participants took betaine supplements for periods ranging from 10 days to 24 weeks. The analysis found differences in body fat and body fat percentage compared with placebo. However, these findings involved supplemental betaine at specific study doses and should not be assumed to apply to lower-dose betaine HCl products.[custom-citation id="ref-27"]
So, while betaine has been studied for its potential role in body composition, betaine HCl is primarily used to support healthy stomach acid levels, digestion, and digestive comfort. An excellent source of betaine HCl is HCL Breakthrough.
Gluten Digestive Enzymes
So many of the iconic dishes we eat around the holidays, like stuffing, are heavy on gluten. If you’re gluten-sensitive or intolerant, making the gluten-free version is still best. But if you’re concerned about potential small amounts of gluten contamination, Gluten Guardian is a great way to support your gut.
For anyone else with minor sensitivity or who wishes to avoid gluten, Gluten Guardian can allow you to occasionally enjoy your favorite gluten-containing foods. As a bonus, it also helps break down casein, a hard-to-digest protein in dairy that often causes minor food reactions.
6. Watch Out For Alcohol
If you’re not paying attention, you can drink too many calories and unintentionally gain weight. When you consume alcohol, you tend to make poor meal decisions and may eat more calories and fat than you intended.[custom-citation id="ref-28"]
A scientific review examined the effects of alcohol on food intake. Drinking alcohol before eating just makes you eat more. Alcohol inhibits leptin, the hormone responsible for telling your brain when you are full, leading to overeating.[custom-citation id="ref-29"]
Alcohol also affects how you store fat. When you drink, your body is unable to break down fat properly. Longterm, this can lead to fatty liver and higher body fat.[custom-citation id="ref-29"]
Avoid alcohol altogether, or if you’re looking for a low-calorie (115 cal/1.5oz or less) option, reach for one of the following:
- Vodka
- Whisky
- Gin
- Tequila
- Brandy
7. Avoid Engaging In Emotional Eating
When emotions run high through the holidays, which they tend to do, some people often try to eat away their feelings. You can imagine the repercussions of weight gain.
Rather than overeating as a response to emotions, deal with them in a positive way. Some strategies include:
- Practicing Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), also known as tapping, is a proven way to decrease feelings of emotional unrest, discomfort, and cravings. It increases feelings of happiness while improving your cortisol and blood pressure.[custom-citation id="ref-30"]
- Exercising can protect you against additional weight gain and reduce feelings of stress and mental health challenges.[custom-citation id="ref-31"] [custom-citation id="ref-32"]
Once your emotions are under control, take the time and space to enjoy your food rather than punish yourself. You can do this through mindful eating. When you eat mindfully, you take the time to eat slowly, use your senses, and appreciate the food you put into your body.[custom-citation id="ref-33"]
Your Free Pass
If you know you’re going to indulge without the digestive misery and throwing off your physique goals too much, be sure to continue training well into the holidays. Also, use the right digestive and metabolic support. We’ve got the perfect stack for you.
Vacation and Cheat Day Stack and Berberine Breakthrough are just what you need to support healthy digestion, glucose metabolism, and energy metabolism while helping you stay on track with your body composition goals.
[fl_builder_insert_layout id=150302315219]