Martin Solveig's +1 features several pumping remixes at between around 62-65 RPM. Featuring Sam White, this one delivers a funky house groove and catchy vocals. It's always good to have a +1. This one will surely get your next cycling class off to a great start.
So. Happy Holidays, right?
About 69% of people say their stress levels go up during the holidays. Some of the stressors are crowds and long lines, gaining weight, getting into debt, and lack of time. There are others, of course, but these are at the top.
Ironically, the coping strategies people tend to use to deal with stress during the holidays are food and alcohol — which of course can make any weight gain worse.
So let’s look at 6 tips that minimize the holiday damage to your food plan.
Workout Survival
Exercise is very important because it’s a stress-buster. If you can keep your workouts going through the whole holiday season, you’ll feel much better and might not need to stress eat or drink as often.
Try an early morning workout — before anyone in your family is up and around. Fewer demands on you will help you get your workout first thing.
If that doesn’t work for you, try the BTN tactic: Better Than Nothing. BTN workouts are short — perfect for a day that leaves no room for something longer. No matter how busy you are, you can probably find 10, 11, or 12 minutes for a BTN workout.
BUT! To make this useful, it has to be physiologically meaningful. You have to pair the short duration with high intensity intervals. This approach is in keeping with research that shows high intensity interval training to be effective — some say much more effective than longer, slower cardio.
Sample format: Warm-up for 3 minutes — 1 minute easy, 1 minute a little harder, 1 minute a little harder. The rest is all about intervals and recovery. Try 40 seconds very hard, with only 20 seconds of partial recovery. Keep that going for the remaining 7 minutes.
If 40 seconds is too long, try 30 seconds very hard, with 30 seconds of recovery. If exercise is new for you, make your work interval 20 seconds and your recovery 40 seconds.
Remember the old Nike slogan and Just Do It!
Office Survival
Avoid the break room! Every office is set up differently, but the question is this: Where do they keep the holiday goodies? Stay out of that room as much as possible.
Party Survival
Never skip meals in an attempt to avoid calories on a party day. That’s just a binge waiting to happen. Eat as usual to prevent overdoing it when you get to the party and face all the temptations.
Buffet Survival
Eat some food before you go. The best choice would be protein foods (some chicken, turkey, fish or other protein you have on hand).
When you get to the buffet, give yourself a full serving of protein first. That would be 3 to 4 ounces of turkey, ham, whatever the buffet meal includes.
Next, cover at least half your plate with vegetables. Naked veggies are best with sauce on the side, or at least choose the clearer sauces or dressings.
Last, pick a small indulgence that you’d like. Don’t waste calories on foods you can get any old time. Do you really need another dinner roll? Instead, save the calories for one of Aunt Mildred’s fantastic cranberry muffins.
Now step away from the buffet! Don’t eat your meal while looking at all the food you didn’t take. Just concentrate on what you have.
The most helpful order would be to start (and finish) your protein first. It will change your brain chemistry so you actually want less food.
Next, fill up on the vegetables; they’re low in calories. Finally, have that terrific muffin.
Bonus tip: Limit yourself to one indulgence per holiday meal. If you can summon real inner strength, limit yourself to one indulgence per day!
Alcohol Survival
Avoid alcohol whenever possible. It changes brain chemistry in a way that will make you want more food — and junkier food, too.
If you do drink alcohol, alternate 1 alcoholic beverage — wine, beer or mixed drink — with 1 glass of sparkling water (or ordinary cold water). Keep alternating throughout the evening.
Meal Control as Survival
If you’re given any control over the meal, jump at the chance!
“Bring a dish” is a perfect invitation for you to put together a beautiful vegetable platter or salad. If you’re asked to bring a dessert, bring fruit and nuts.
Many guests will appreciate it. It’s simply not true that everyone will grab the highest fat selection or the most decadent dessert if they’re given a choice.
If you have control over the meals at home, consider modifying all recipes all season long. Everyone has a great recipe for mashed potatoes, for example, but you can substitute chicken broth for butter or cream. Cutting butter and sugar in half in other recipes probably will go unnoticed by your family.
And avoid glazing veggies or fruits. That just adds unnecessary sugar.
These are just a few helpful tips to get through holiday parties and dinners with less damage, less weight gain, and less stress. Part 2 will cover more great tips to help you sail through the holidays.
How great would it feel to get ahead of your New Year this holiday season? What if you could jump into next year already feeling and looking good? What if you could focus on things that really matter in January instead of having to lose the weight you gained over the holidays?
Just go to www.LastResortNutrition.com , scroll to the bottom, and click to select a FREE Eating Empowerment consult. I’d love to help you make this your best — and healthiest — holiday season ever.
Here's the promised continuation of my interview with Peter G! If you haven't heard Pt #1 you can find it here.
Peter and I discuss more about creating his ReWeRKs – remixed tracks that are available from Legitmix – along with a bunch of other interesting stuff. You've got to appreciate his passion for Indoor Cycling!
We have a proven history of advancing the careers of smart & talented instructors here at ICI/PRO. Multiple Instructors have gone on to become Master Instructors after their exposure here at www.indoorcycleinstructor.com
I'm fascinated by Instructors who can effectively blend rhythm and movement classes with Power based display training. It's not just me. Premium health clubs like Life Time Fitness and nearly all of the hottest cycling studios are looking for Rockstar Instructors who can present a dynamic and exciting class, that includes elements of proper training.
It will only be a matter of time before the established Indoor Cycling brands will be looking for Master Instructors who can effectively present Rhythm + Movement + Power + Display Training Instructor certifications.
Is that a description of you… or do you know someone?
Let me know in a comment below or email john@indoorcycleinstructor.com
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I love finding remixes of great songs to add to my music library because I'm often looking for a specific song length to add to my profiles. This week's favorite track features remixes of the song Kill the Lights (with Nile Rodgers) by Alex Newell, Jess Glynne, DJ Cassidy. If you're looking for a 3, 5, or 7 minute song to fit in to your profile, you're sure to find what you're looking for here. The original and the remixes clock in between 62-65 rpm, so they make great climbs. I hope you find one that works for your next class!
With the holidays rapidly approaching, we’ll soon feel the stress they bring.
Did you know one of the top stresses is weight gain? Alcohol can contribute to that in several ways. It’s often a big part of holiday celebrating and socializing, so let’s look at the ways.
– Alcohol has lots of calories.
Alcohol has 7 calories per gram. Protein and carbs yield 4 calories per gram. Only fats have more calories with 9 per gram.
– Alcohol triggers lots of insulin.
High insulin may trigger hypoglycemia in susceptible people. In turn, that may increase appetite, cause mood changes, or bring on cravings. Insulin also inhibits fat oxidation and may promote storage of the fats we eat.
– Alcohol increases appetite.
Drinking alcohol releases endorphins (beta-endorphin). Endorphins inhibit the center of the brain that makes us feel we’ve had enough food and won’t need more for a while. That can lead to more frequent desire for food — and more food at a given meal.
– Alcohol makes us want different foods.
Endorphins again. Endorphins shift food preferences and cravings toward sugars and fats. Eating more of those foods can increase calorie intake and weight gain. It may even lead to insulin resistance!
Insulin resistance isn’t just the result of overweight, as we usually hear. It can cause it — along with a variety of metabolic disorders.
– Alcohol can mess up our moods in several ways.
Alcohol changes brain chemistry and may lead to depression or anxiety, for example. But any negative mood can cause cravings. The cravings won’t be for good foods, but for junk. Between cravings and the junk they make us want, we may eat more.
Serotonin typically drops with alcohol use over time. Low serotonin affects mood, triggers cravings, AND makes us more impulsive. That combination may make it more difficult to resist cravings of any kind — including more alcohol.
– Alcohol disturbs sleep.
Alcohol prevents the deep stages of sleep (theta- and delta-wave) that are most restorative. Poor sleep can trigger the monster hormone ghrelin. Ghrelin increases appetite and food intake while it slows metabolism.
Alcohol may also cause middle-of-the-night insomnia. Insomnia might make it difficult to exercise — or to show up for early morning workouts. Insomnia may lead to depression or other bad moods, and that may decrease your motivation to work out altogether.
As you can tell, alcohol can contribute to weight gain and the stress it brings. The sabotage of alcohol goes beyond calories in/calories out.
Even worse, most of the factors above — with the exception of calorie density — hold true for sugar, as well. Limit alcohol this holiday season for better health, better moods, better sleep, and better weight management.
Yes, holiday time seems like a tough time to work on health. But it can be done — and will make you feel great going into the New Year. For help with cravings of any type, or any “odd” food issues, just contact me at drjoan@LastResortNutrition.com .We can find a simple and effective plan to move you where you’d like to go in a way that’s easy and do-able.
Beyond his career as an Indoor Cycling Instructor – Peter Gonzalez, AKA Peter G, has created quite a following as a creator of custom remixes designed specifically for Indoor Cycling classes.
I'm a Digital DJ and Indoor Cycling Instructor that creates the Best ReWeRks that ” Stay True ” to the original and are specifically designed for my #djonabike Indoor Cycling classes !
Peter's music is available on Legitmix – we spend part of our time together discussing how Legitmix provides a nice WIN – WIN for artists, labels and DJ's like him.
Listen to part 1 of my interview with Peter G here – here's part 2
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