ShareHappy New Year everyone! Welcome to 2013.
Today’s post comes to you live from my homeland, Australia. The outback. Folks here keep wombats and kangaroos as pets. Yep, that’s right. Pet wombats. Don’t believe me? I have proof. Unbelievable. This guy enjoyed too much Christmas cheer and needs to try this metabolic workout below.
Anyway, it’s that time of year again for New Year’s resolutions. What is yours? I’m sure you’ll see plenty of new faces at the gym this week making all kind of silly fat loss workout mistakes, that you’re smart enough to avoid.
As a human being, no doubt the Christmas/New Year period has been a wipe out for your diet. Perhaps the whole of December was off the charts.
To be honest, I’m still suffering from attack of the holiday food.
You see, I was staying with my folks last week and their cupboards were filled to brim with all kinds of temptations. (Secretly, they must have been preparing for the end of the world because there was a TON of food for two people.)
Time for a confession. Over the three days of Christmas, I consumed no less than the following:
- Deep fried turkey: absolutely delicious. Can you believe I came all the way from New York to Bondi Beach to get my first taste of this American favorite? It didn’t disappoint.)
- BBQ Shapes: in a jet lag induced hunger attack – this was the only food I could find in my brother’s apartment that was actually edible. Yes, the other choice was very scary.
- Cadbury’s Favorites chocolates: I hadn’t seen these chocolates in years and couldn’t get enough of them.
- Gluten-free peanut butter cookies: the next door neighbors baked fresh “Welcome to Australia” cookies and they were calling my name.
- Fresh leg ham: simply delicious despite being salty.
- Beer: watching cricket and drinking beer go hand in hand. It would have been very un-Australian of me not have a couple.
But honestly, it was the Cadbury’s Favorites that tipped me over the edge. This is one treat I’m secretly happy I can’t find in New York.
In light of this dietary wipe out, damage control has been in full effect this week. Here are 4 great tricks to help you fend off the holiday flub:
- Throw out all the leftover Christmas food: You heard me, toss it out now. If it’s STILL lying around, you’re going to eat it eventually. That includes chocolates, Christmas cakes, yoghurt covered pretzels, cheese, bread, hampers, pudding, ice cream, candy canes, salty nuts, brandy. Whatever you have lying around, into the trash it goes and eliminate the temptations. You will easily save a 1000 calories every day.
- Sweat: I believe working out solves most of life’s problems in one way or another. Get your butt into gear and burn off the Christmas cheer. Desperate times calls for desperate measures. Twice a day workouts. Listen, you’re probably hanging out with family and have nothing better to do anyway. So a morning metabolic workout (30-40 minutes) plus an afternoon run or hilly walk will do the trick.
- Drink tons of water: Last week I couldn’t resist the delicious ham – but it was super salty and the following day I resembled a puffer fish. This extra salt makes you bloated… which is not sexy. Aim to drink at least 3L of water to flush your system. If you can’t handle the bland taste, add a touch of lemon. Bonus tip: get yourself a 1.5L water bottle and drink at least 2 bottles a day (makes the math easy).
- Go for fiber: Make sure you get at least 30g of fiber. Most folks struggle with this one and only average 15g/day. You can get fiber in more than just grainy bread and All-Bran. Excellent choices include raspberries, traditional rolled oats, flaxseeds, raw nuts, beans (black, kidney, pinto – all good choices).
Now for the serious business. Training. Wondering what type of workout I did to burn the maximum number of calories in the shortest time frame?
This one left me absolutely dripping in sweat. Below is the awesome fat blasting metabolic workout that I pumped out the morning after Boxing Day by the pool. It was so awesome, I even repeated this exact workout a few days later.
Being out in the middle of nowhere, the only equipment I could find was a 20lb weight plate in my parents’ garage. Man, it was so dusty and had cobwebs all over it – must have been sitting there for years.
Fortunately, I packed a TRX for my travels and hooked it up around the balcony. Plus I had my GymBoss timing device so I was ready to kick butt. All set to go now? This won’t take any longer than 30 minutes.
Treadmill-Free Dynamic Warm Up
Do each exercise for 30 seconds and move onto the next move without resting. Go through the circuit twice.
A) Y Squats
B) Bird/Dog Plank
C) Lateral lunges
D) Push ups
E) 4 point hip flexor stretch
“No Rest for the Overfed” Circuit
Do each exercise in order with no rest between exercises. At the end of the circuit, rest for 60 seconds and repeat once.
2A: Narrow stance goblet squat x 10
2B: Bent over rows x 10
2C: Reverse lunge to overhead press x 10 each leg
2D: Diagonal chops x 10 each side
2E: Plate Swings x 10
Dessert Circuit (No Added Sugar)
Do each exercise in order for 50 seconds, and rest 10 seconds. Go through the circuit twice.
3A: Jumping Jacks
3B: TRX atomic push ups
3C: TRX Bulgarian lunges (25s each leg)
3D: TRX low rows
3E: Jump squats
So now you’re all set. With these simple tricks and a fat blasting workout, stubborn holiday belly fat doesn’t stand a chance.
Metabolic resistance training workouts (like the one above) are the real deal when it comes to effective fat loss. You only need 30 minutes and minimal equipment so you can do this type of workout anywhere in the world. No excuses people!
Here’s to 2013. Let’s make it your fittest year ever.
KV
