Living in my Buffet Pants

Less then a week until Christmas, and I have to say I am almost ready for it to be over with. I love this time of year, but all the running around is starting to wear me down. My diet is a mess with all the treats, parties and special dinners. I am not totally strict about what I eat, I indulge every now and then, but it seems that this time of year almost everything revolves around food, which makes things so much harder to stay on track. There really is no valid excuse, so I will not make one up. I do not believe in ‘dieting’, unless it is for health reasons or you are an athlete. For me personally, I cannot stick to a super strict diet, but I also do not like the way I feel when I over indulge either. When I over indulge I end up bloated, tired, gassy, and with a generally feeling of blech. I think it is important to find a happy medium. When I am craving chocolate or fast food, I will treat myself to it, within moderation. Instead of a Big Mac meal, I will order a Happy Meal, which I find just as satisfying. It has taken me a long to time to get to this point; I always felt everything was ‘all or nothing’. I can tell by how my clothes fit and how I am feeling as to whether or not I have been giving in too much. The one thing that I have found that helps me avoid the fast food pitfalls, is being prepared. I generally try to keep 100g portions of cooked chicken breast in my freezer at all times, along with some cooked rice and the fixings for a salad. That way even if I am rushing to get out the door to work in the morning, I can almost always find the time to grab a couple things from the freezer or fridge, thereby avoiding a trip to the grease laden food court. At least once a week, I will cook up a super-pack of chicken breasts. I will either grill them or bake, using assorted marinades or spices. I recently discovered I can make some pretty good chicken in the crock pot. Once the chicken is cooked, I cut everything up, weigh and package it into 100g servings and put it in the freezer. If I am particularly ambitious, I will do the same with rice; however, we generally eat rice on almost a daily basis, so I just try to make extra.

Once the craziness of Christmas is done and over with, and I have the time, I am going to sit down and plan out a few meal plans. I want to get back on track with my training and start working on making more gains in my lifts. In order to do that, I need to feed my body the right stuff. I have worked with a few trainers in the past and I definitely noticed a difference in my workouts when I eat the right stuff. The right stuff being; enough protein to promote muscle growth, the right carbs to provide enough energy and proper pre and post workout meals to help build and repair the muscles. Until then, bring on the CHOCOLATE!