Tackling Turkey Day: Before & After!

Justin Janoska wants your goals to survive Thanksgiving. Is that too much to ask?

Hell no! Ha!

So, to help you power through the holiday without losing out on ALL the fun, Justin has written us a definitive guide to tackling Turkey Day! Prepare your face, it's about to be melted:

I’m not going to tell you to eat extremely modestly, monitor every calorie you take in and workout excessively, but…what I will tell you is to NOT just roll over like most people do, accept their fate of the inevitable weight gain and justify their “surrender” to food by losing it once the new year rings in. Unfortunately, this is hardly realistic for most folks, as they tend to fall off the wagon shortly part January.

Indulge as you wish during Thanksgiving, but don’t get reckless. In fact, your goal should be to maintain your weight and heck, if you’re feeling REALLY ambitious, challenge your desires and see if you can lose a little weight. The truth is most people gain a little over 1 lb. during the holidays, not the ridiculous 5-10 lbs you often hear – that’s a huge myth.

Here’s some solid before and after Thanksgiving advice that I have used myself and saved myself an unwarranted body transformation.

Before

- Don’t rest from the gym on Thanksgiving. Take advantage of your gym’s limited hours and get through a quick workout. If you can’t make it to the gym, try a routine at home. (Check back next week for a workout routine video) Since you will be eating a lot of food, exploit your elevated insulin sensitivity and hoard those nutrients in the muscle rather than in the fat cells.

- Traditionally, people eat one large meal mid-afternoon and then dessert later on in the evening. That’s fine, but don’t skip breakfast. Consume some slow digesting oatmeal, egg whites and some healthy fat like flax or almonds to curb your appetite until later in the day and you may feel less inclined to eat more during the big meal.

- When it’s time to eat, eat the turkey (protein) and all those vegetables (fibrous carbs) before you attack the potatoes, stuffing, etc. (starchy carbs) You’d be amazed at how well this strategy helps suppress your appetite and ultimately the amount of calories you take in.

- Go for a walk after the feast. This will keep you from feeling sluggish and give you the opportunity to burn off a little of what you just ate. Depending on your weight, you can easily expend anywhere from 100-200 calories just from a 20 minute speed walk at 4 mph.

After

- Since you will most likely assume you took in a relatively large calorie surplus on Thanksgiving, make Black Friday calorie deficit day in order to balance it out. Go for a run and/or lift some weights. Just be active somehow and eat much, much less than yesterday.

- Make a turkey soup. I have found this to be a great way to integrate your leftovers into a low-calorie, low-carb healthy meal. It’s so simple to make, delicious and yet so filling. In a pot, put in a tablespoon of olive oil, cook 1 medium onion until it’s translucent and add 1 clove of garlic (add more for taste). Then, put in a box of vegetable or chicken broth and bring to a boil. Add your cooked leftover vegetables such as carrots, celery, broccoli, and peas as well as the leftover turkey chopped into bite-size pieces and cook until it’s warmed through.

So, enjoy turkey day with your family. Just try to not to be careless and neglect exercise. Give these tips a try and remember, your goal should be to at least maintain your weight.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Fab advice, thanks Justin!

Justin just so happens to be a passionate fitness trainer certified by NASM, as well as a sports & exercise nutritionist, and would love to hear from you on Twitter & Facebook! Make sure you check out his website HERE… and if U wanna know more about surviving holidays OR anything else, U can always email us at Questions@FitPerez.com!!

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