As we welcome November, we also mark the start of the holiday season, but the holidays are just that, holi-DAYS (not holi-WEEKS)
Statistics show that the number one reason for weight gain over the course of the year is holiday and vacation eating. What may happen is that some people could gain about 3lbs around Halloween time, then Thanksgiving rolls around and another 3 - 5lb gain. Before we know it, it's Christmas and well, there's another 3 - 5lbs and let's not forget about New Year's Eve AND Day and 'suddenly' we're seeing the scale top out at about 15lbs heavier than when we entered the holiday season. Some of us are left scratching our heads thinking "I'm not sure what happened, I didn’t change how I eat!" In many ways that’s true, you don’t have to change the way you eat, you just have to enjoy a few occasions and not manage the weight gain. If you're working with a PLT Nutrition Coach, or you are someone that manages their weight pretty well, you will have seen how your weight can easily spike from one event…only to quickly come back down when you actively work it lower - this is the key. If you feel you have experienced this in the past, why not make this the year you change?! The PLT ABC’s are the building blocks of our nutrition plan and can be applied to specific situations giving you a guideline to help you stay focused and working hard despite special occasions like holidays! ACCOUNTABILITY:
BALANCE:
CONSISTENCY:
The 3 basic approaches to holiday eating:
Tips & Tricks:
Weight spikes will happen, embrace them as it means you’re enjoying life, but know that you MUST manage your weight back down by tightening up your nutrition for 2,4,8,10 days afterwards - basically however long it takes until the gain has gone! Whether you have a PLT Coach or not, maybe weighing the same on Jan 2nd as you do today IS progress! You avoided the typical 15lb gain! This period isn’t always about losing weight as progress, it can 100% be about maintaining your weight. Don’t put off starting your journey just because of this challenging period. There’s EVERY value starting today, tomorrow - soon - the sooner the better. There is NO reason to put it off. Above all else, smile, have fun, love your family, cherish your friends but remember your goals. We wish you a healthy and happy holiday season and we wish you an epic scale reading on 1/1/223! Well, it’s about that time again… Football season is upon us!
Whether you’re a football fan or not, you likely have friends or family who love football. That means you’ve likely spent a Sunday or two (and the occasional Monday night) hanging around certain “football foods” like pizza, wings, and all sorts of yummy, not so calorie-friendly foods. As we know we definitely do not have to avoid these foods all together. Sometimes you can (and should) eat the pizza! However, if this is becoming every Sunday thing you may find it difficult to hit your goals and stay on plan. Perhaps you can try doing football season a little differently this year. Here are some healthy swaps that may help you stay on plan:
Here are a few more fun and healthy ideas to try:
Happy football season and may the odds forever be in your team's favor! ~ Coach Kasha, Registered Dietitian 𝗜𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝘄𝗲𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁?
Well, this gets pretty science-y but let's break it down so we can better understand the effects stress may be having on achieving fat loss goals. Cortisol is a steroid hormone that works in the body as a stress response and is often measured in research as an indicator of stress. It is produced from cholesterol in the two adrenal glands. Cortisol plays a large role in nutrition science by regulating energy, and when chronically elevated, cortisol can have harmful effects on weight, the immune system, the gastrointestinal track, and chronic disease risk. When we experience stress in our lives our bodies go through what is often called the “fight-or flight” response & has a temporary increase in energy production. In short, in the event an individual faces stress, our bodies release cortisol from the adrenal glands. This process produces 𝗴𝗹𝘂𝗰𝗼𝘀𝗲 as an immediate energy source to our large muscles which then 𝗶𝗻𝗵𝗶𝗯𝗶𝘁𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗹𝗶𝗻 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 in an attempt to prevent glucose from being stored. Epinephrine (aka adrenaline hormone) increases the heart rate which then results in the hormone levels returning to normal after the individual resolves the problem. So, can chronic elevation of cortisol from stress have a negative impact on weight gain and fat loss? The answer is YES! Chronically elevated cortisol can gather triglycerides from storage and relocate them to visceral fat cells (abdominal fat that surrounds the internal organs). In layman terms, cortisol can quite literally create fat storage around your belly. Increased cortisol levels effect cravings for high-calorie foods & increased appetite. Multiple different studies have shown a direct association between increased cortisol levels and calorie intake in populations of women. Seeing how cortisol increases the production of glucose, frequent high blood glucose levels along with insulin suppression sends hunger signals to the brain, which can result in overeating. So, what can we do? Well, for starters, we can improve stress management and optimize our diet and lifestyle. Some strategies for stress management may include:
Optimize diet by increasing anti-inflammatory foods such as whole foods, fruits and veggies & limiting pro-inflammatory foods & lifestyle factors such as:
In summary, stress can cause difficulties when it comes to reaching our weight loss goals, but luckily, there are many things you can control & improve from a nutrition standpoint. |
AuthorI'm Paul Leonard, CEO & founder of PLT Nutrition. Categories
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