YOUR GUIDE TO A FIT HOLIDAY SEASON

Today is the first day of winter - the winter solstice.

With each day growing progressively brighter, it is the perfect time to metaphorically do the same.

Holiday feasts are around the corner, and that means it is a great time of the year to be strategic about food and exercise.

5 Ways To Maximize Your Fitness During The Holidays

1. Drink Plenty Of Water in the Morning

Water is essential for staying fit, athletic, and vital. A hydrated body will perform better than a dehydrated one under any circumstance. Most biological systems are optimized when one is fully hydrated. Not only that, but keep in mind you are ~70% water. Hydration is key for fat oxidation, and countless other health reasons. On average, a good goal to aim for is to drink around 8-15 glasses of water per day.

2. Ditch Large Breakfasts The truth is humans are very well-fit to eat extremely light in the early mornings and progressively have larger meals as the day gets darker. Ancient royalty across many cultures would often exemplify this - consuming fine beverages in the mornings and delighting in very large evening feasts.

Why not model the diets of ancient royalty and warriors?

In the mornings, the best option for maximizing fat-loss is to capitalize on your body's naturally fasted state (you fast while you sleep), and allow this fast to continue for a few more hours (beginners may fast a few hours, i.e. 1-2 hours, but if you're more advanced or have more fat to lose you can fast a bit longer, i.e. 4-6 hours).

This is known as intermittent fasting.

Use this time to hydrate, drink your favorite low-cal beverages, and set or work on large goals or projects, not worrying about food until later.

The morning mental state that has just left dreaming is more suited for creative mental tasks anyways. This is the perfect time to dive into academic, relationship, business, or any skill-gaining ventures you may be pursuing.

If you time your personal clock and energy levels correctly or consume a natural pre-workout like tea or coffee, you may even use the end-tail of this time window to complete a scheduled workout.

This would maximize both the amount of fat-stores you burn during your workout, as well as the calories you get post-lift in the form of big holiday feasting.

This will translate to a much better body composition and give you full use of the properly timed periods of fat-loss, muscle growth, and overall metabolic improvement.

3. Stay Consistent in the Gym Three workouts per week. That is all you will need.

Once you have your custom goals set in place, and have developed or received a proper weight training plan suited to YOUR body and goals, consistency in executing your workouts is the ingredient that brings it all together and gives you results.

If you haven't yet properly identified your body's current state and clearly defined your personal physique goals, then that is the first step and you can begin that journey by clicking here.

Consistency in both your training and your nutrition can only give you results if you know where you are now and where you want to be say 4, 8, 12 weeks from now. Wherever you are now, the quiz will take you to the plan I'd recommend for you.

4. Go For Walks Whether that be promising a daily walk to Fido, nature-trailing with a buddy, or meditatively taking walks on your own, walking is one of the best, most underrated exercise suited perfectly suited for most of our goals.

Walking oxygenates your entire body, from tissue, to muscles, and vital organs. It also mobilizes and oxidizes (a.k.a. burns) fat stores.

Low-intensity cardio in general is ideal for burning fat and avoiding cross-training effects.

Walking won’t ramp up your appetite like other forms of more intense cardio.

Thus all the calories you burn while walking is more to likely remain burnt off since your appetite will remain pretty much the same.

A mere 30-60 min. of walking in the morning can easily burn a few hundred calories! This will help keep you leaner and make it much easier to stay lean without sacrificing additional food calories! Optionally, if you want to ‘upgrade’ your walk, you can listen to and absorb the information from your favorite personal development audio-books. Alternatively, you can put on some great music and do some fasted dancing.

5. Set 'Bigger Than Yourself' Goals for 2018

If you are reading this, I assume you are a warrior and aren't afraid to go after large, ambitious goals.

That being the premise, looking after your mental health is just as important for your overall fitness as a person. It is crucial for your development as a human to practice the creation and attainment of goals throughout your life. The upcoming new year is a time for the tradition of engaging in this practice with the support of a larger community.

A positive, forward-driven attitude, combined with the mental stimulus from goal-setting and creating/writing your own future will increase levels of adrenaline, epinephrine & nor-epinephrine, a trio of "excitement hormones".

(This will also help balance the flux of tryptophan, GABA, and other relaxing hormones you will get from your huge, relaxing holiday dinners.)

Making sure that these goals are in essence, an essential and helpful thing for the community you choose to help, will ensure that your success and that of others is one and the same - a synergistic relationship.

Such a balance is conducive to keeping you mentally and physically healthy, thriving and fit. The practice of creation and attainment of goals will improve your mental fitness and possibilities for your future life.

Happy Holidays Adonis Warriors

Gerardo Gutierrez