Novemberfest?

Hopefully you all survived the dreaded calorie loaded Halloween chocolate candies and caramel apples along with delicious physique destroying beer from the month of October. But it does not end there. The holidays are around the corner and you plan to keep a full set of abs or a flat stomach then you must, and I repeat, you MUST keep focused through the holidays.



Today's blog will be about all the different topics and themess that most Nutrition Articles are written about in November. I'll keep each one short because there are hundreds and hundreds of articles about each of these topics. But a good refresher is always good.

On a different note these next few months are perfect for utilizing those extra calories to add inches to your arms, chest, legs, calves, but hopefully not your waist. Feel free to pack on extra turkey on your plate for added protein. Be cautious of loaded baked potatoes for that complex carbohydrate source and opt for a plain or lightly topped baked potato instead. Also if you must, eat small amounts of simple carbohydrates especially the ones comming from pies and dessert. It doesn't stop here, drinks should also be taken into account. Not only does the average shot of alcohol have over 100 calories most holiday drinks are mixed and sugary cocktail juices are brough into the mix. Drinks like eggnog and hot chocolate are loaded with sugar so drink with caution and drink responsibly.

One of my favorites is the misconception about turkey and holiday drowsiness. Why does this happen? Nope, its not tryptophan. It is actually a combination of overeating along with a high consumption of carbohydrates causing blood-sugar levels to spike and drop drastically. Just a refresher insulin is a hormone released by the pancreas that regulates blood-sugar levels along with other things.

Finally we'll talk about why we overeat. With so much good food in front of your eyes how is one not to supposed to overindulge? Simple. It takes about 20 minutes for the hypothalamus to recieve the signal from the stomach to stop eating. Some of us an eat an entire days worth of calories in 20 minutes by binging on calorically dense foods like pecan pie. So we can avoid this by eating your portions. (See previous Article by Andrew) Then waiting and drinking a few cups of water. This is the time where we socialize and talk about how good your workouts have been going. Then after 20 minutes you're still hungry go ahead and go for 2nds but keep it clean and portioned.

-Noel Cerda