Holiday Weight Gain and How to Fight Back

Let’s face it, this holiday may have been one that wreaked havoc with our training and resulted in unsightly fat gain in our midsection! You may have already jumped on the train this week to get back in shape but even if you haven’t let’s all make a deal to fight back with a vengeance. The goal of this article is for a quick 4 week whip you back in shape diet and workout plan to tighten your abs and shed the excess fat weight.

Fat Busting Diet Plan

Your healthy diet plan is all messed up, you’re waking up schedule is all a mess now…so let’s get things back in order! Here’s the schedule you should try and aim for:

  • Meal 1 (as soon as you wake up) – healthy cereal, oatmeal, or eggs with whole wheat toast & milk, etc.
  • Snack 1 (2 hours later) – Protein smoothie (like Vega One or Optimum 100% Natural Whey), fruit of your choice, vanilla yogurt with fresh fruit, or handful of nuts
  • Meal 2 (2 hours later) – healthy sandwich, low fat chili, or wrap
  • Snack 2 (3 hours later) – Protein smoothie (like Vega One or Optimum 100% Natural Whey), fruit of your choice, vanilla yogurt with fresh fruit, or handful of nuts
  • Meal 3 (3 hours later) – lean ground beef, chicken or fish with brown rice or yam & salad with light dressing
  • Snack 3 (2 hours later) – Protein smoothie (like Vega One or Optimum 100% Natural Whey), fruit of your choice, or cottage cheese with 1sp honey

Nice right? Be creative with the foods but try and stick to the schedule so that you keep your metabolism as high as possible and your cravings completely in check. 4 weeks with this plan and you’re going to see some impressive results.

Gut Busting Workout Routine

This workout routine is going to be simple and short. You want to achieve at least 3 days of cardio training for the next 4 weeks so you can blast away fat around your gut…the higher intensity you can achieve the better and quicker your results will occur. Check out these Treadmill Workouts which includes different varieties depending on your current level.

If you can add 2 or 3 days of weight training to this schedule then you’re doing one better and will wreak major benefits of stronger muscles and a tight core which will eliminate lower back pain and keep your energy levels high. Check out the Workouts and Training section of the site for thousands of different workouts of numerous varieties.

Note…if you are doing weight training and cardio in the same day make sure to do your cardio session afterwards. You want to have the greatest strength possible to allow you to push the weights with maximal force.

Oh and one more thing, if you are one who is constantly fighting motivation then first step is to reduce your coffee intake and replace with a natural pre-workout energizer like Vega Sport Pre-Workout Energizer.  It’s devoid of chemicals and includes green tea extract, ginseng and ginger to give you metabolism boosting motivation.

Rest & Relaxation

I thought I’d in this bit because it can be quite easy to get carried away and forget to schedule rest and relaxation days. You don’t have to be a complete couch potato on these days, but have a day or two a week where you do more light intensity activities such as walking, yoga or biking. This is the time your body needs to recover, repair and grow and with this scheduled in to your weekly plan you prevent yourself from burning out, losing motivation and weakening your immune system.

Special for Smokers

I’ve tried arguing the whole quitting smoking thing before with smokers but it hasn’t worked so I’m just going to put a note here for you to re-evaluate why you’re smoking. Nothing anyone says is going to help you if you don’t want the help. Try writing down 5 reasons why you should stop smoking and stick it to your bathroom mirror…at least it will be a good reminder in your own words!

Holiday Weight Gain Conclusion:

Ok remember to stick to this for at least the next 4 weeks, that’s a good goal to start with and once you get into the groove of things you can continue to build, add variety and intensity and push yourself to a stage that you are really happy with by next summer. To keep your health at the top of your mind make sure to skim through the articles on this site on a weekly basis and I will do my best to keep your motivation high and continually looking at your training in different angles.

Have any questions or want to help inspire others? Please leave a comment below…