Let’s go into these last holidays and parties with a smart strategy to be guilt free and be ahead of the curve as we leap into 2016. We shouldn’t have to turn down all these delicious foods on these special occasions, but we also shouldn’t let them set us back and use them as the excuse. There are two factors you must work on in order to be prepared: your training and nutrition.

Training: Forget the steady cardio that most people will be doing. HIIT is the type of training we’ll need! This way we can burn calories and help keep the metabolism revved up. The three important days to do your HIIT training is the day before, the day of and the day after the event. NOTE: On the day of the event it’s best to perform in the morning before the feast begins so that you’re not to full, busy or tired to get it in later.

Duration of training: 10-20 min is all you need. Sprints, bike, elliptical or row machine. Perform 40 sec on 20 sec rest. If you don’t have time to hit the gym you can do the full body living room workout we just posted the other week. No excuses! On the day after, perform your HIIT on an empty stomach to help burn the extra calories from the day before. Still be drinking plenty of water though.

Nutrition: For nutrition, it’s about manipulating your meal times and working in a couple short fasting session. You’ll be fasting 20 hours before your feast. So first you must determine what time your feast is. Lets say it’s 2:00pm pm on Christmas. That means Christmas Eve your last meal must be 6:00pm. You may still drink water as this is recommended but no calories. The day after you can eat as soon as you finish your fasted HIIT morning session.

Review Key Factors:

• HIIT the day before, day of and day after event.
• Fast 20 hours before major feast.
• Perform the day after HIIT fasted.
• Still drink water when fasted.