If you are new to my blog or the series, please take a look at my week 1 post and subsequent posts to catch up on my plan and how it has been going. Week 1 will also outline some ideas for you to make your own plan, if you would like to join in!
How has it been going?
My healthy holiday plan included going the following guidelines:
During Weekdays, Elimination of Grain, Added Sugar, Refined Oils, Alcohol
At all times (aside from Holidays) Elimination of Pizza, Fried Food, Refined Oils
Practice Intermittent Fasting, use as a tool pre and post Holiday Celebrations
Attempt a Multi-Day Fast
Exercise 5 Days per week
Focus on Mobility
I can honestly say that for the most part, I can give myself very high marks for compliance with my plan. The one point I slipped on was having some fried food on the weekends, which I was hoping to avoid entirely leading up to Holidays. One point of pride for me was adherence to guidelines during weekdays, in particular elimination of grains, and therefor cutting out all processed snack foods!
My focus not only on exercise, but also mobility work truly helped me feel better physically. I had written at the start of my post that I was experiencing some significant tightness in my neck/upper back, which I partially attributed to neglecting my stretching and mobility work in various degrees during the past year. I am pleased to report that with a daily commitment to mobility, and also a few professional massages, the tension and pain is gone from my neck, and movement is much more free.
Mobility Tips
I have written previous blog posts on stretching and mobility, if you are interested in some sample ideas you can work into your own routine.
I posted a Youtube video to report back on my multi-day fast, and some basic tips on the topic based on my own experience.
Thanksgiving Week Day by Day
Monday
Monday exercise was 40 minutes on the Nordic Track, with around 30 minutes of stretching beforehand. For nutrition, Monday started day one of a planned multi-day fast. My basic strategy for a multi-day fast is that water, black coffee, tea, seltzer are allowed, but anything with calories or artificial sweetener is not allowed. When on a multi-day fast, I have also found it helpful to add some salt to beverages, since I am not getting any sodium intake from food.
Tuesday
Exercise included 3 working sets of Kettlebell Front Squats, Total Gym Rows, Curls, Chest presses and flies, and also Reserve Crunches. I was also able to include plenty of stretching and foam roll activities, for around an hour of total exercise. Given that this was day 2 of my fast, I was happy with my workout and energy levels. 6 pm on Tuesday marked 48 hours of fasting.
Wednesday
Exercise was 40 minutes on my Nordic Track machine for cardio, with around 30 minutes of stretching beforehand. Wednesday morning was starting at 60 hours of fasting as of 6 am, total fast was 68 hours! I broke the fast with a smaller meal following my guidelines of grain, sugar, and processed oil free food choices. I felt good enough to keep the fast going, but did not want the Thanksgiving feast to be the meal I break my longer fast with.
Thursday
Thursday is Thanksgiving! Delicious holiday food and drink was enjoyed, but I did not skip my workout. In the morning, I did one hour of alternating sets of Kettlebell Swings, Push Ups, and Reverse Crunches.
Friday
I am finishing the plan strong with 60 minutes of cardio this morning on the Nordic track, with 30 minutes of stretching and mobility work before hand. I will also fast for at least 18 hours coming off of the Thanksgiving feast. This is in line with one of my tips, to plan some exercise the day after any Holiday to help you keep positive momentum going!
Thanksgiving Week Top Tips
Have a plan for your Holidays, including the days leading up. You should be able to enjoy your Holiday meal, have all your favorite foods and not have to worry about portions or guidelines. In order to set myself up for success in this area, I made sure that I did not stray from my weekday nutrition guidelines, and did not skip any planned workouts.
Use the day after a Holiday as an opportunity to get back on track! Schedule yourself some exercise the day after a big Holiday meal, and make sure you eat wholesome foods to help you get back on track with your nutrition. For example, leftovers can be very temping, but they don’t need to be an excuse to continue your decadent eating from Thursday through an entire weekend after Thanksgiving. Perhaps you could use left over Turkey to make something lighter like Turkey soup. Eating three meals a day of Thanksgiving left overs, at Thanksgiving size portions, for three days in a row, is a sure fire way to start Monday morning feeling sluggish and unmotivated to continue any type of exercise or nutrition plan.
Program Stats
Weight: Before 205.4 lbs
After 203.0 lbs. This was not intended as a weight loss program, more a healthy eating and maintenance program. Based on the overall picture, I am happy with the results and stats taken at the beginning and end of November.
Waist Circumference: Before- Rather than using a tape measure, I use my belt that I wear to work as an indicator of my waist circumference. When I am feeling my best and have my routine dialed in, I use the 5th loop on my belt. As I started this program, I was using the 4th belt loop.
After: 5th belt loop. While I do feel good about what my belt is telling me, a slight caveat is that I did not go to work on Friday after Thanksgiving. It is entirely possible that my belt may need to be loosened back to the 4th loop Thursday/Friday after Thanksgiving, however I will take the progress!
Photos
BeforeAfter
What is Next?
I intend to create myself a new plan, and blog series to finish out the year strong! I will use many of the same principles and guidelines I found success with during November, and think of a new theme to keep the motivation for December. Until next time!
For those just joining is, this is a blog post series following my plan to have a happy, healthy holiday season. For more information on the plan and how it is going, please take a look at my previous post. The theme related to Football post season is really resonating for me right now, since the most important Football is played in November and December, as teams are trying to make the playoffs. It is also important to note that teams do not have to be perfect at this time of the year to be successful. Championship teams might make some bad plays, or even lose a game in November or December, but the sum of their preparation puts them in position to be successful when it matters the most. The same can be said for maintaining our health and fitness with Holiday temptations around…consistency is your friend, but you do not have to be perfect to have success!
Planning for Week 3
I am really excited for week 3 as I am setting plans for week 3! Weeks 1 and 2 have seen a fair amount of success, and I am looking forward to continued progress. Meal planning for the week is going to include continued grain, sugar, and processed oil free eating, please see week 1 for my full list of guidelines I am committing to if you are new to this series. For exercise, I will make sure to get my 5 organized exercise days in Monday-Friday this week. The weekend will include some family time and travel, so I want to make sure I am sticking to my plan in case the weekend does not present opportunities to train like I want to.
Week 3 Day by Day
Monday
Monday exercise was 30 minutes on the Nordic Track, with around 30 minutes of stretching beforehand. For nutrition, I started the week off with a 23 hour fast, eating my one meal of the day at around 5:30 pm. My meal included some left over pot roast with carrots, onions, and cauliflower rice, sauerkraut, olives, macadamia nuts, and pumpkin seeds.
*Unless otherwise noted in my summaries, beverages during the day include black coffee, green tea, water, seltzer.
Tuesday
Exercise included 3 working sets of Kettlebell Goblet Squats, Total Gym Rows, Curls, Chest presses, and also Reserve Crunches. I was also able to include plenty of stretching and foam roll activities, for around an hour of total exercise. Nutrition wise, I had a shorter fasting window overall, as I had a bulletproof coffee around 7:30 am on my way to work (information and recipe in previous blog post). My afternoon meal was around 5:30 pm, some left over pot roast with carrots, onions, and cauliflower rice, sauerkraut, olives, macadamia nuts, and pumpkin seeds.
Wednesday
Exercise was 45 minutes on my Nordic Track machine for cardio, with around 30 minutes of stretching beforehand. Today’s fasting window was around 18 hours, and eating window around 5 hours (1-6 pm). I made myself a small bowl of natural peanut butter, coconut oil, coconut flakes, hemp hearts, pumpkin seeds, and sea salt mixed together. For dinner, I had a bowl with sliced avocado and sauerkraut, and a bacon wrapped, cheese stuffed chicken breast (frozen from Costco, all compliant ingredients). I also had some pumpkin seeds and coconut flakes.
Thursday
Exercise today was 3 sets of kettlebell swings, 1/2 get ups, arm bars, and double kettlebell military presses. I also included 30 minutes of stretching and mobility work before exercise. Today’s fasting window was around 18 hours, and eating window around 5 hours (1-6 pm). I took avocados, and 3 grass fed beef sticks to work with me. For dinner, I had a bowl with sliced avocado and sauerkraut, and smoked salmon with some cauliflower rice, and some pumpkin seeds. I also had some pumpkin seeds and coconut flakes.
Friday
I started Friday morning with 47 minutes on the Nordic Track, with 30 minutes of mobility work before hand. I had my first meal of the day around 11 am for a 17 hour fasting window, the meal included some pecans, a frozen grain free meal of chicken enchiladas, and some sauerkraut. I am also planning to have a few treats as part of my meal this evening.
Saturday and Sunday (the plan)
I will plan for less fasting and a treat or two on Saturday, and more of a rest day physically. Sunday I will get back on plan, and also do some yard work for exercise.
Week 3 Challenges
The main challenge this week was not to ease up on my plan, given that I knew I had a day off Friday and a mini get away coming up. It is certainly ok to have some treats and kick back/relax, but the trap I nearly fell into was allowing that mindset to creep into the week sooner than I had planned. I went back to my analogy of treating meals like a budget; if it is not in the budget today, you don’t get it! But, if it is in the budget for tomorrow, make sure to enjoy it 🙂
Week 3 Tips
Make time to exercise. During this program, I’ve made sure to get to sleep at a reasonable hour, so I wake up and exercise before work. Personally, after work/ evening workouts are not my thing, my energy levels are not as high at that point. In the evenings, I also pick up my son from day care, and have some time I spend with him that I don’t want to adjust/fit work outs into. Think about peak energy times for you, demands on your time/schedule, and carve out some time to exercise. Put exercise on your calendar like a work meeting, and don’t make exceptions!
Week 3 Compliance Grade
I will give myself a solid B+ this week, again in anticipation of some treats during the weekend. For the work week, I was very happy with my routine and discipline.
Looking Ahead to Thanksgiving Week!
Thanksgiving week is going include 1 Holiday, Thanksgiving on Thursday! I am going to stick with my plan on all other days, and attempt a multi-day fast before the Holiday. Additionally, I’m not going to skip any exercise days next week. My plan is to exercise Monday- Friday, even on Thanksgiving!
As always, I will report back on how it goes, see you next week!
This is week 2 of a blog post series focused on maintaining an exercise and healthy eating plan to navigate the holidays from November through new Years. The post season analogy is related to Football, which resonated with me. The most important part of Football is the playoffs (post season), and the months of November and December are the most important months for teams trying to make the playoffs.
If you are new to my blog or the series, please take a look at my week 1 post to catch up on my plan and how it has been going. Week 1 will also outline some ideas for you to make your own plan, if you would like to join in!
Getting Ready for Week 2
I did some pre-planning to set myself up for success in week 2. Starting off the week, I knew I would be doing a little bit of traveling on the weekend, so I felt it important to make sure Monday-Friday were days I plan to exercise (meeting the goal of 5 days per week). I also made sure to do some shopping and meal planning before the week started, to make sure my nutrition was not being left to chance.
Week 2 Day by Day
Monday
Monday exercise was 30 minutes on the Nordic Track, with around 30 minutes of stretching beforehand. For nutrition, I started the week off with a 22 hour fast, eating my one meal of the day at around 5:30 pm. My meal included some canned salmon with sriracha sauce, a bowl of cauliflower rice with salt, pepper, and butter, sauerkraut, olives, almonds, and pumpkin seeds.
*Unless otherwise noted in my summaries, beverages during the day include black coffee, green tea, water, seltzer.
Tuesday
Exercise included 3 working sets of Kettlebell Goblet Squats, Bent Over Rows, Pushups Stability Ball Planks. I was also able to include plenty of stretching and foam roll activities, for around an hour of total exercise. Nutrition wise, I had a shorter fasting window overall, as I had a bulletproof coffee around 7:30 am on my way to work (information and recipe in previous blog post). My afternoon meal was around 5:30 pm, and included canned sardines, a bowl of cauliflower rice with salt, pepper, and butter, sauerkraut, olives, almonds, and pumpkin seeds.
Wednesday
Exercise was 45 minutes on my Nordic Track machine for cardio, with around 30 minutes of stretching beforehand. Today’s fasting window was around 18 hours, and eating window around 5 hours (1-6 pm). I took some grass fed beef sticks, and pumpkin seeds to work and ate around 1 pm. For dinner, I had some slow roasted salmon, a bowl of cauliflower rice, some olives with humus, and almonds.
Thursday
Exercise total included 3 sets of Kettlebell Deadlifts, Total Gym Chest Press, Bicep Curls, and Rows. I did some physical work around the house Thursday as well. I also was able to incorporate stretching and mobility work, total time 1 hour. For the morning, I fasted for around 15 hours, and had a bulletproof coffee around 9 am. My afternoon meal was around 12 noon, and included canned sardines, olives, almonds, and pumpkin seeds. I also had brussels sprouts with bacon, and a lemon check breast around 5:30 pm.
Friday
I started Friday morning with 45 minutes on the Nordic Track, with 30 minutes of mobility work before hand. I am planning around an 18 hour fasting window at the time of the post, with a treat meal later in the day due to some family time coming up and going out to eat.
Saturday/Sunday (The Plan)
I will plan for less fasting and a treat or two on Saturday, and more of a rest day physically. Sunday I will get back on plan, and also do some yard work for exercise.
Week 2 Challenges
A mini family get away can always pose a challenge when trying to work a plan related to health and fitness. It is easy to make excuses, and be undisciplined when fun events are scheduled. The way I met the challenge was to plan/”budget” my treats, and make sure to not skip any planned exercise days during the week leading up.
Week 2 Top Tips
Try and look for foods that are convenient, without sacrificing quality. For example, I have found a lot of good quality frozen prepared meals during my recent plan. I am defining good quality as a short ingredient list of all whole foods that I can easily identify, and free of artificial ingredients. Frozen meals can be a big time saver, whether you buy them prepared, or make them yourself and freeze portions for later.
Another tip is to celebrate small wins. Anytime you stick to your plan for a day, two days, 1 week, give yourself a pat on the back and some recognition! A month long program is only as good as the sum of individual days…completing your workout, stretching session, and meal planning is a big deal, so act like it!
Week 2 Compliance Grade
I will give myself a solid B+, just in anticipation of some treats I will have on the family weekend. I give myself high marks for the work week, and also my exercise routine given other demands on my time at work and at home this week.
Looking Ahead to Next Week
Next week includes more family time on the weekend! My plan is exercise Monday-Friday, and also sticking to my nutrition guidelines 100% Monday through mid-day Friday before another mini get away with family. Only 1 more week until Thanksgiving, this is an important stretch to push for the post season! See you next week.
Every year, many people with good intentions lose sight of their health and fitness goals, due to this frame of time we call “The Holidays”. During the fall, the pace of life picks up…many professions are busier as the end of the year approaches, parents are busier with kids activities, and everyone is busy planning time off and celebrations with friends and family. If we are not careful, the busy times can end up being a convenient excuse to let our health and fitness routines slip. Additionally, there are gatherings with friends and family, office parties and potlucks, seasonal treats, and many other temptations related to food and drink. Often times, we can get stuck in “The Holiday Cycle”. Below is an excerpt from my blog post last year about the cycle:
“The Holiday Cycle
I am writing this post in October (2021), in preparation for the Holiday season. Starting with Halloween, and ending with New Years, there are many holidays observed and celebrated between October and January. For a lot of us, the holidays are a time to celebrate with friends and family, and also to eat, drink, and be merry.
If we are not careful, the holidays can also be a time of overindulgence, which leads to a viscous cycle:
Over eating/drinking from October-January.
Realizing in January that the holidays have had a negative impact on our waistline.
Making a New Years resolution, losing (most of) the excess weight and inches gained during the holidays.
When we reach October, start again at step 1…
Have you ever found yourself in this cycle? I know I have. Wouldn’t it be a lot easier to enjoy, but also moderate the holidays, so we did not have to dig out of a hole every January 1? Think about cleaning out your house or garage…is it easier to clean a cluttered room from top to bottom, or to keep it clean and organized? I pick option 2 personally.”
The Solution
Put simply, make a plan! Make yourself a realistic plan, with guidelines, to enjoy the holidays but also continue your progress and prioritize your health and fitness. I found success last year making myself a plan for November and December. Was I perfect? No way! Much more successful than years previous? You bet! I am going to make another plan this year, and use weekly blog posts to hold myself accountable, and share any helpful tips. I am a fan of Football, hence the title “Push for The Post Season”. It is the end of the year, so let’s get ready to play our best!
My Plan
I am going to share the rough framework of my plan to be healthy and happy this Holiday Season. For some tips on making your own plan and customizing to your needs, please take a look at the blog post I linked above, and right here. My plan is going to include the following guidelines:
During Weekdays, Elimination of Grain, Added Sugar, Refined Oils, Alcohol.
At all times (aside from Holidays) Elimination of Pizza, Fried Food, Refined Oils.
Practice Intermittent Fasting, use as a tool pre and post Holiday Celebrations
Attempt a Multi-Day Fast
Exercise 5 Days per week
Focus on Mobility
The elimination of food groups above is to simplify my meal planning. Put simply, Grain, Added Sugar, Refined Oils are found in most (if not all) processed foods, and these foods are very easy to overeat. So, rather than writing out every snack food and sugary drink you want to avoid, a tip to simplify can be to pick ingredients to avoid. The elimination of grain (even whole grain) during the week makes it easier for me to eat relatively low carb, which also makes intermittent fasting easier due to the regulation of blood sugar and hunger cravings. I will allow myself some flexibility and treats on weekends, however I plan to eliminate Pizza and Fried Foods because they are easy for me to overeat. Holidays will not have restrictions.
My exercise routine will include at least 2 days per week of strength training, likely 3 days of some type of organized cardio activity. This fall, I want to be mindful of my mobility and stretching routine. Admittedly, I let this slip a little bit during the past year, and suffered a few minor muscle strains and spasms (likely) as a result.
Focus Areas
Nutrition and Exercise
Last year, my goals mostly revolved around discipline with my nutrition, and exercise routine leading up to (and during) the holidays. This worked very well for me, and is something I plan to replicate this year. The guidelines for my program should set me up for success in this area.
Mobility
A few weeks ago, I was doing a pull up and felt extreme tension and then some pain in the back of my neck. Pull ups are an exercise I have done for most of my life, and I can say I had never felt a sensation quite like that before while doing a set. In the days that followed, I noticed my range of motion was limited. I even bumped the side of head while getting into my car because I could not move my head/neck into the car door frame the way I have habitually been doing for over 10 years since I have owned my car. My immediate reflection took me through events leading up to this point, including interruptions to my normal routine during the pandemic period. I quickly found what I believe to be a likely culprit of this tension and pain.
During 2020 and up through present day, I found my mentality and focus can be summed up with the phrase “just get it done”. Your job, paying bills/managing money, childcare, household projects/chores, exercise, meal planning…everything had a little extra stress and straining during the past 18 months, and yet our responsibilities did not go away. I found myself very much with the mentality of “just get it done”, and overall this was very effective. I even found myself applying this to my routines of nutrition, and exercise. The problem is, I did not apply “just get it done” to comprehensive stretching, foam rolling, and other mobility work. I did some, but mostly window dressing rather than what I know/have found to be effective for managing tension and muscular performance.
The trap that I have fallen into is that not having serious focus on mobility may not have immediate consequences, like some other areas of life, and fitness. If you stop exercising for 2 weeks and eat whatever you feel like, you will notice some immediate differences in weight, waistline, and energy levels. However, neglecting some of your stretching and mobility work can take some time to present any real consequences, and you can continue “just getting it done” with your exercise routine. It will take some time to get my muscles and joints back to the range of motion and comfort level I am accustomed to, and I plan to use this pre-Holiday training period as a time to focus on this important area of fitness.
Sleep Quality
All success starts with a good night’s sleep. During my program, I will focus on having a consistent bed time, and strive for 8 hours of sleep per night. I will try to accomplish this through a consistent routine before bed, consistent bed time, and a sleep mask to block out light.
Discipline
Routine and discipline will be very important to success for my healthy holiday plan. This is not to say that I can never have any treats, but my approach needs to be much like a household budget to be effective. A household budget should not be restrictive, but rather it should give you permission to spend, because you have a plan. If I plan when I have treats and holiday meals, I can still enjoy them, and maintain my energy and fitness levels through the new year!
Week 1 Stats
Weight: 205.4 pounds. Weight on the scale should not be the only indicator of health/success with a program. However, for me it is a helpful benchmark along with other measurements of success. I find that for me, what I am feeling my best and have my nutrition and exercise routine dialed in, my weight is in the range of 195-200 pounds. For consistency, weigh ins will be in the morning.
Waist Circumference: Rather than using a tape measure, I use my belt that I wear to work as an indicator of my waist circumference. When I am feeling my best and have my routine dialed in, I use the 5th loop on my belt. As I start this program, I am using the 4th belt loop (the 3rd loop is bad news).
Photo:
Week 1 Day by Day
Monday
Monday was a rest day physically, I did not exercise. Sunday 10/31 included a morning run, and afternoon lawn mowing/leaf clean up. I am still confident in my ability to exercise 5 out of 7 days this week. For nutrition, I started the week off with a 20 hour fast, eating my one meal of the day at around 5:30 pm. My meal included some smoked salmon with sliced avocado, sauerkraut on the side, parmesan cheese crisps, and some macadamia nuts. I am designing my nutrition plan to focus more on quality of food than quantity, so I am not counting portions or calories.
Tuesday
Exercise included 3 working sets of Kettlebell Goblet Squats, Bent Over Rows, Stability Ball Planks. I was also able to include plenty of stretching and foam roll activities, for around an hour of total exercise. Nutrition wise, I had a shorter fasting window overall, as I had a bulletproof coffee around 7:30 am on my way to work (information and recipe in previous blog post). My afternoon meal was around 4 pm, and included some smoked salmon with sliced avocado, sauerkraut on the side, and some macadamia nuts.
Wednesday
Exercise was 40 minutes on my Nordic Track machine for cardio, with around 30 minutes of stretching beforehand. Today’s fasting window was around 18 hours, and eating window around 5 hours (1-6 pm). I made myself a small bowl of natural peanut butter, coconut oil, hemp hearts, pumpkin seeds, and sea salt mixed together. For dinner, I had a bowl with sliced avocado and sauerkraut, and a bacon wrapped, cheese stuffed chicken breast (frozen from Costco, all compliant ingredients). I also had some pumpkin seeds and coconut flakes.
Thursday
Exercise total included 3 sets of Kettlebell Deadlifts, Kettlebell Arm Bars, and 1/2 Turkish Get Ups. I also was able to incorporate stretching and mobility work, total time 1 hour. For the morning, I fasted for around 16 hours, and had a bulletproof coffee around 10 am. My afternoon meal was around 12 noon, and included some smoked salmon with sliced avocado, sauerkraut on the side, and some macadamia nuts (I tend to repeat meals during the week if they are working for me). I also ate some coconut flakes and macadamia nuts around 5:30 pm.
Friday
Exercise this morning was 30 minutes on the Nordic Track, with 30 minutes of stretching beforehand. I will be getting a 1 hour massage today, which will be a big help for the mobility. I also plan to do some leaf raking today, which absolutely counts as exercise. My plan is to continue the morning fast for around 18-20 hours, and hold steady on my nutrition plan and guidelines.
Saturday/Sunday (The Plan)
Since I am completing this blog post on Friday, I will include my plan for both Saturday and Sunday. Saturday for nutrition, I plan to follow my guidelines to a T, while Sunday I will allow myself a treat meal. I plan to go for a run Saturday morning, and Sunday will most likely be a rest and mobility day. This will get me to 5 exercise days, a great start to week 1!
Week 1 Top Tips
Plan your meals, and do your own shopping if you do not already. For my particular nutrition plan, I needed to make sure I had a enough food options that did not include grain, sugar, and processed oil, so I did not reach for something quick and easy. Surprisingly, Costco has a lot of good options for the food groups I am looking for. Examples of foods that helped me find success this week include smoked salmon, sauerkraut, sprouted pumpkin seeds, avocados, macadamia nuts, and (unsweetened) coconut flakes. When you are shopping and meal planning, always take a look at the ingredients for any packaged food, just to make sure everything is compliant with your meal plan.
Week 1 Challenges
Eliminating grains proved to be much more of a challenge than I expected, mostly because it showed me how much I had been snacking on junk! This is why periodic elimination of grains is helpful, because it keeps me honest about junk snack foods.
Establishing a new routine was the top challenge this week, especially coming off Halloween weekend with many treats available. As much as establishing the new routine was challenging, this will pay dividends and help me build positive momentum!
My Compliance Grade for Week 1
I will pre-emptively give myself an A for the week. The only thing that could have been better is a little more volume on strength training, but I want to bring that back gradually as I increase mobility. A great start!
Next Week’s Plan
Next week includes some family fun on the weekend, which will require some planning and discipline for in the exercise and nutrition areas. I will plan to build off the positive momentum from week 1, and make it another great week as I push for the post season! Until next time, stay happy and healthy 🙂
Dom's 10 Minute Health and Fitness Tips 