Losing weight – and still going to all the socials.
Yes it is possible.
Mind you I did not say easy and I am not hear to say that I am perfect. There has been a chip and dip combo or two that has broken me over the last several months. But in that time – even at my worst – I never gained more than 5 lbs back and I was able to lose the weight after just 2-3 days back on my program.
So here is what I have concluded. Enjoy!
There is no sin in enjoyment. Only over indulgence.
This is the secret that I have found. As I plan my work outs I look to the future and plan my exercise and diet around that. So for instance in the month of Aug I had no less than 2 parties each week. That is A LOT of good to account for. And some of it was dang tasty as well. Let me just say here that the Mill Creek Inn, in Salt Lake City, has the best steak I have ever had at a restaurant (not better than mine – but dang fine). It was so worth however many calories that added to my day.
But here is the deal. I will never be happy in a world where I am not able to eat – and eat well. So reality is I have to account for this type of activity. In the weight loss phase April was murder for my plan. I had wanted to lose another 30 lbs. I only managed 10. But hey, that is 10 lbs despite all of the eating that I did. Here is how I did it.
First, I cannot recommend Isagenix enough. I’ve not posted much on that yet. I will in a few weeks once I am done with my last experiment. But I can tell you that it works for weight loss. Second, there are different types of workout to use depending on the type of food that is going to be consumed. So I look at the week and then adjust my workouts accordingly.
Short sprint workouts are best for the every day experience. You can read my post on intensity to see my experiments in that regard. But they do not burn more over all calories and they do not deplete the glycogen stores in your muscles. Glycogen is the stored sugar energy in the muscles that is used for quick energy. It makes up to 1/3 of your muscle weight and takes a few days to restore when you are resting. Now normally that is a good thing, sorter intense workouts help you lose more weight in the long term, keeps the muscles primed for the next workout, and keep the muscles taut so that they look better.
If I go into a heavy eating weekend like that I will end up gaining weight, and it will store as fat, because there is no other need for it.
So I will do some long distance intense exercise 2-3 days before one of these events. I will then just eat veggies and shakes until the actual event. That keeps my overall calorie count down low – my protein consumption high and the fiber high so I feel fuller. Then when I go to the party – not only do not fee like eating quite as much, my body is in need to carbohydrates. It needs them to replace all the glycogen that I have just expended in those long grueling workouts. Bottom line is instead of converting the food to as much fat it converts it into sugars to replace the lost energy stores. I have now created a purpose for those parties. I can go and enjoy them and know that – aside from eating more than I probably still should – I’m actually doing something good for my body.
In the tests that I have done I have found that my overall body fat percentage will drop during these parties and my glycogen levels go up (judged by an increase in lean body mass) and I’m more prepared for the next weeks intense workouts.
Not bad; enjoy life, lose weight. Pretty good combination.
Matt S
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