Holiday Weight Loss…AND Holiday Eat-A-Thon
I just had the first of my holiday dinners…or let me re-phrase that…holiday “eat-a-thons”
A friend of mine invited me over for a traditional christmas turkey dinner…we had copious amounts of all the follow foods:
Turkey
Stuffing
Squash
Roasted Potatoes
Mashed Sweet Potatoes
Green Beans
peanuts
m&m’s
Apple caramel score bar dip (translation, a diabetic coma)
Sweet Chili pepper and cream cheese triscuit dip
Apple pie
Cherry pie
Pumpkin pie
And I ate all of it…I actually had all three pieces of pie together as one sorta neapolitan pie slice.
This happened on dec 18th and I know for sure it’s going to happen again on dec 24th (seafood and pasta eat-a-thon)
and again on the 25th. (and most likely on new years eve as well)
so how in the hell am I supposed to get through the next two weeks without gaining weight, and in fact continuing to lose weight?
Easy…Eat Stop Eat (or at least some form of intermittent fasting and/or low calorie compensation days)
Weight loss or weight gain is pretty simple, and the rules don’t change over the holidays. If you know you’re going to have a few big eating days like me then you gotta offset them with lower calorie eating days.
I only ate about 1000 calories the day after the above mentioned eating fest.
I’ve estimated my BMR at around 1920 cals/day…So even if I went 1000 calories over during the big dinner I already offset that by going almost 1000 calories under the very next day.
I’ll do the same thing leading up to the two big back to back dinners on the 24th and 25th.
From mon dec 21st to wed dec 23rd I’ll keep things light (between 1200-1500 calories per day)
The day of the 23rd I’ll start an Eat Stop Eat style fast mid afternoon/early evening and then resume eating on the 24th at the seafood eat-a-thon.
With this kind of eating pattern throughout the week I’ll be in a good position to eat all the food I can handle on the 24th and 25th without really gaining any weight at all.
Just to be sure I’ll also add in an Eat Stop Eat style fast on the 26th (god knows I’ll be so stuffed i won’t even feel like eating until the 27th anyway)
I’ll keep you posted on my bodyweight throughout the next week.
Incidentally, this pattern is how I managed to lose weight over thanksgiving.
John
24 Responses to “Holiday Weight Loss…AND Holiday Eat-A-Thon”
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December 20th, 2009 at 11:27 pm
Great Post there!
Actually I do the same thing. But maybe I go to extremes doing it my way. This weekend I was having Beer and Eating Really Heavy since Friday. In total 2 days of heavy eating. This will happen again on 24th/25th and then again on the New Years Eve.
I become a bit extreme when it comes to fasting here. Just before the feast day I do a 30 Hour Fast and do the same 30 Hour Fast the next day after the fast. And after that 30 Hour fast I feed on a 1000 calorie/day diet for 2 or 3 more days before coming back to my normal 1500-2000 calorie diet plus 3 day ESE.
I can handle it really well and I have had no issues yet. So, John, you have anything to say on this? Like, will I wither away if I follow this? I just do it when there are heavily extreme feast days. Rest of the time I am doing a 1500/2000 calorie diet with 3 ESE fasts every week. I eat everything, everything as in I have no ‘Good’ or ‘Bad’ food in my dictionary!
December 20th, 2009 at 11:28 pm
“Just before the feast day I do a 30 Hour Fast and do the same 30 Hour Fast the next day after the fast”
Sorry I meant feast in the last word!
December 21st, 2009 at 12:00 am
Hey John!
I’ve found a lot of great info on your site and through the adonis effect book, yet it wont let me register on the adonis forum so I wondered if I could ask you a question here?
anywho I am doing the burn workout for AI and I know that this workout is made to help increase the size of shoulders but isn’t working out the shoulders 4 days a week going to cause a major injury down the road? I love the workout but Im just worried. Should I be?
thanks for the holiday feast tips too!
December 21st, 2009 at 6:00 am
Hi john…
I am very interested in purchasing eat stop eat. However, my goal is to gain weight, not lose. Would eat stop eat help me in abtaining this goal? Thanks…
John z.
December 21st, 2009 at 7:36 am
I wish more people could get hold of your information..Everything you say makes sense. I use intermitant fasting and it works very well…
December 21st, 2009 at 8:20 am
Joe,
Thanks. It’s just common sense, but I guess as they say, it’s not so common.
It’ll catch on bit by bit. Some people just aren’t ready to hear such a simple answer to things like
diet and exercise.
JB
December 21st, 2009 at 8:23 am
John,
Why do you want to gain weight?
JB
December 21st, 2009 at 9:05 am
Because I’ve been under sized my whole life. I’m 5′ 8″ and weigh about 170. Id like to be more like 180. I started weight training later in life and it seems like progress is impossible. So I’m looking to aid progress through nutrition and weight gain… thanks…
December 21st, 2009 at 9:41 am
Aditya,
That doesn’t really sound too extreme. If you’re going to have a few higher calorie days then it makes sense that you need a few lower calorie days. If you feel comfortable eating in this pattern then it sounds good to me, I can’t see why there would be any issues with it.
JB
December 21st, 2009 at 9:43 am
Nick,
There shouldn’t be any risk to your shoulders as long as your shoulders are healthy. If you have a pre-existing shoulder issue/injury then you might need to do some modified exercises. There are lots of guys on the program who have shoulder issues and are fine with the volume.
Email me at john@adoniseffect.com and remind me to get your forum access sorted out.
JB
December 22nd, 2009 at 1:37 am
Hey John. What do you recommend in terms of diet/exercise for someone who is 6’0 in the low 160s but does not have fully visible abs (prob. 12-14% bf). Would you recommend to try to lose fat through caloric restriction, gain muscle through lifting? Do both simultaneously? Lift for a few months before losing the fat? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
December 22nd, 2009 at 2:45 am
Hey Nick
I have really weak shoulders, a slim frame and football related AC joint and impingement injuries in both shoulders.
I found that when I did proper form as instructed by Brad and John at the right weight it has actually healed my injuries faster than any rehabilitation I have done recently.
When I used to go to the gym anything over my head was painful and I just didnt bother coz it felt like my shoulders were going to pop out, but I have been slowly getting stronger and hopefully in the next few months I might actually get some shoulders for the first time in my life haha
December 22nd, 2009 at 8:05 am
John Z, please Barban advise but if you’re a hardgainer I’d think to up your protein intake and therefore total calories via protein. The body struggles to assimilate protein into bodyfat. Does so easier with carbs/fats.
December 22nd, 2009 at 10:23 am
Dave,
Caloric restriction while weight training. It’s the best thing you can do. Don’t expect it to happen over night. Be consistent and you’ll build muscle and lose bodyfat at the same time.
JB
December 22nd, 2009 at 10:29 am
John,
You’ve used the word ‘undersized’ but that seems to assume that there is a correct size that you have chosen to identify yourself as being under. This is a false way of viewing yourself. If you say you’re ‘undersized’, then what is the correct size and how do you quantify it?
I’m 6’0 and 184. Go look at my pictures a few posts back on this blog for a reference point. (as of this morning I also have a golden AI ratio)
I wouldn’t get hung up on weight as it really isn’t possible to just force your body to get heavier without most of that weight gain being fat.
I’d focus on proportions rather than weight. I don’t know of many guys your height who can weigh much more than you do without it becoming an increasing amount of fat.
JB
December 22nd, 2009 at 1:24 pm
Makes a lot of sense john…thank you. I guess I associate my ideal proportion to being bigger. And seeing that I haven’t gotten the results in the weight room to get bigger, I figured it was due to my nutrition. Would ESE help out in obtaining a better proportion? Thanks john…
December 25th, 2009 at 12:26 am
Man, the holidays make me feel so bloated, even when I try to eat relatively healthy. I haven’t gained weight, but I feel terrible. Can’t wait to get back on the Empowered Nutrition program diets. No more overeating for me!
January 4th, 2010 at 2:20 pm
John- this post was awesome! It’s exactly the same way I indulged over the holidays but I still lost weight. I also use ESE 2x’s per week and lower calorie consumption on other days. However, I occassionally indulge in my favorite foods but I no longer feel any guilt about it because I know what to do now to keep reaching towards my goal. I’ve gone from a size 16 to a size 8 using the same techniques you advocate. Talk about a sense of freedom!
Keep up with the great posts John because your blog is inspirational!
-Kelley
January 5th, 2010 at 1:01 am
Good for you Kelley!
Don’t you feel like we’re in on a dirty secret that the rest of the weight loss world wishes they knew! I just don’t get it when I see people struggling with complex diet routines and ‘good’ and ‘bad’ foods and worrying about nutrient ratios and all of that nonsense.
It’s funny but only people who read about diet and nutrition and obsess about it get caught up in all of that crap. My buddies who don’t workout and don’t read about nutrition or fitness looked at me and just said “you look like you haven’t been eating much the past few months”…and of course they’re right…I lost weight by eating less, and most people understand this.
It’s great that you’ve changed your body. You can now lead by example, and when people ask you how you did it they can’t argue with you because your living proof that it works.
JB
January 5th, 2010 at 1:02 pm
Yeah, we’ve created our own little world, haven’t we? lol.
January 10th, 2010 at 2:12 am
Hey John,
Great blog. You say that you use eat stop eat to compensate your big eating days. I am going to an allyoucaneat sushi place on friday at 6pm and was planning to use ESE this week. If my basal metabolic rate is 2000 calories, does this mean that if i fast from Thursday 6pm to Friday 6pm and consume 4000 calories in that one sitting ( trust me I can ), then i will not gain any weight at all since i burned 2000 with the fasting and am eating my daily allotment as well the next day(2000 + 2000=4000 calories)? I know this is not how you are suppose to ESE, but would this work? Also, would fasting for 12 hours burn 1000 calories, or does it have to pass a certain hour mark? Thanks, and i understand this might be a little confusing to answer.
-Kenneth
January 10th, 2010 at 5:34 pm
Kenneth,
Yes for the most part that’s how it works. Of course your bodyweight will go up after eating because all of that food will be in your system as well as liquid. So you’ll be heavier on the scale for a couple days until your system processes the food bulk and liquid.
JB
January 10th, 2010 at 6:13 pm
Ok thanks, but that extra food bulk and liquid wont eat extra fat if i ate the way i did. THanks
January 10th, 2010 at 6:13 pm
Im sorry i meant add extra fat