It can’t just be me who dreads the first day back at work after the Christmas period? Not because I hate work, but because I dread the thought of gaining so much weight from the annual festive binge that my clothes will no longer fit.
Now, I probably exaggerate my anxiety a little (me, exaggerate, never!), but I do get stressed about it. So I hear you ask, why not show a little restraint over the period Craig and why do I just not stuff my face with junk? Well, I tell myself every year I won’t, but the unsealing of the Quality Streets or the smell of the mince pies seem to send me into overdrive that I just cannot seem to control!
So you can probably imagine me this morning, getting ready after the ’emergency’ gym session, staring at the challenge in front of me that is putting on my work shirt, not that this would usually be a challenge. You can imagine my delight when I slipped it on and it actually fit, I was overjoyed and instantly felt better about my indulgent lifestyle over the past week!
Even though I’ve seemingly not gained a new shirt size in my week off, I still need to get better and change my lifestyle. Hence the reason I’m currently eating a salad with avocado (I don’t even like avocado!), fun times. But I’ve learned over the years that you can’t simply deny yourself everything all of a sudden, it’s about making small changes that you can sustain for the long term. These are the small changes I’m implementing from now:
Overcoming my coffee addiction
One of my major vices is coffee. Coffee at work, coffee at home, coffee when I’m out and about, it’s very out of control. However, I know I can’t just stop drinking coffee, but I am going to start limiting it. Also, I’m going to start drinking it black, hence cutting out most of the calories that I am consuming by drinking all the milk. Tom Daley even did a video about the benefits of switching from a Latte to a black coffee, so if it works for him it might just help me get those abs by next Christmas!!
It’s gonna be a dry January
Yes, it’s official, I am giving up alcohol for January. Well, actually most of January unless that bottle of wine I drank on New Years day doesn’t count?
I’ve read so much about how alcohol is bad for you, and one of the ever increasing things I notice is how difficult it is to get rid of the fat on my stomach, and I think in men especially some of it is down to drinking. Therefore I am going to give it up, see how it goes and what the effects on my body are. Even if I just have a few weekends where I’m not feeling slightly hung-over or waking up with cotton mouth, it will be worth it.
No Carbs before a workout
Now, this is very much down to Joe Wicks and the Lean in 15 plan, if you haven’t read the books then you really should. The basic principle is that you shouldn’t be eating carbohydrate rich meals unless you’ve worked out or done an ‘HIIT’ beforehand.
Now for those of you who don’t know what a HIIT is, it stands for High Intensity Interval Training, basically a shorter workout but you fit more in by working out hard for an amount of time and then having a quick break. So 20 seconds of squats, followed by a 10 second rest, and keep repeating. Read the benefits of HIIT compared to regular work-out’s in this Nerdfitness blog . The Body Coach has all his work-out’s on YouTube so they are really easy to follow and makes it easy to fit a work-out in when ever you can. We all lead busy lives but a 20 minute session should be achievable.
I have started the New Year by doing a few HIIT sessions and they are really quite good at making you build up a sweat and getting in the zone, I would recommend for those who might not have the time to go to the gym.
So what are your goals this year? Might be to lose some weight, or even stop smoking. What ever it is, make a plan, set some goals and work towards them. Don’t set unachievable goals though as you’re just more likely to fail. But more importantly don’t give up, if you feel weak then talk to someone about it, get out of the house, stay busy. I know when I feel like eating that chocolate bar or that bag of crisps I usually have Matt to tell me to stop stuffing my face, so having someone there to be your ‘voice of reason’ is always helpful.
I’m going to be keeping a track of my progress over the next few months, I’ve taken my measurements and will keep you posted on progress. You never know I might even have started back up on that milky coffee, who the hell knows, but I’ve got my targets and I’m staying #motivated.
Until next time…
craigowrites 