Make The Yuletide Gay (Without the Food & Fitness Guilt)

The festive season

is officially here.

That means you're going to be going out more,

your routine is going to be out the window

and there's going to be chocolate everywhere.

If you're feeling anxious

that you're going to ruin

all of your fitness progress

in the space of a week,

then listen up because we have got you covered

with ten essential

tips to get you through Christmas.

Welcome to The Outlifting Lounge. I’m Alan.

And I'm Derec. This is the show

that's all about pride, fitness

and everything in between.

Today's show is a little bit different.

We are dedicating

the entire episode

to our 10 Tips To Make The Yuletide Gay.

So there's no chat beforehand

and we're getting straight into it

before Alan here

gets called up by Santa

to help at the North Pole.

Did you just call me an elf?

Well, you are the right height.

And you've got enough white in your beard

to play Santa!

Wow!

Right, before we get started, however,

we need to say that

these tips are a toolkit and not a rule book.

But if you're already feeling anxious

about how much food and drink

you know you're going to consume or

by not being

as active over the holidays,

then we've got something here for you.

But listen, if you decide to ignore it all

and just rot on the couch

for five days eating Quality Street,

that's absolutely fine as well.

OK, let's kick off.

But before we do, actually,

I should point out that every single tip

that we've got today has a cheesy pun

name as well. So apologies in advance.

Alan, why don't you kick us off with number one?

So, number one. Don't be a drag to your future self.

So Derec, the idea here is not to write cheques

that your future body

can't cash, basically.

Yeah, it's

totally normal to fall

into that mindset over

Christmas and New Year of thinking,

I'll eat and drink all this now,

but it's fine, it's fine.

Because New Year, new me,

I'm going to sort it all out

in the New Year.

Yeah, and I think Christmas

is the time of year

where everybody just says,

it's Christmas, it's fine,

you know,

and everybody gets into that mentality,

which is fine to do

if you want to enjoy yourself.

But you shouldn't

be going all guns blazing

to then restrict yourself in January.

Exactly. And you should not have to justify

or offset

having some food and drink over Christmas

because that is what Christmas is for.

It's about letting your hair down

and enjoying yourself.

No, you're right.

And I think that just leads

into that binge restrict cycle

that actually we talked about

in last week's episode as well.

And if you reduce it down, essentially

what you're saying to yourself is,

oh, I'll enjoy this now

and then starve myself in January.

And that's not a really good

or sustainable approach.

No, definitely not.

It's like during Christmas, enjoy yourself,

enjoy the food,

enjoy the drink,

but don't have at the back of your mind

that you're going to be feeling guilty

and then January comes

and then you're going to restrict.

That's just not a good cycle to be in.

And the other aspect of this psychologically,

if you keep telling yourself

it's fine, future

me will cancel all of this out,

what that's going to do is encourage you

to overdo it

and indulge a bit

too much maybe?

Yeah, I think the biggest takeaway from that

is enjoy the food

now because it tastes great

and not that you're going

to punish yourself later.

Yes, absolutely.

Let's go on to tip number two,

which is rest you merry gentlemen.

And this is all about reframing

gym absence

as recovery, isn't it Alan?

This is about

not feeling bad about taking some time off

from the gym.

I talk to clients about this

all the time.

Rest is so important

for building muscle,

for losing fat, any fitness goal

that you have, rest is super, super important.

I think what this boils down

to for a lot of people as well

is that they find their routine,

they find their rhythm

and that Christmas and New Year

period just

knocks them

way off course.

Even the fear

of being knocked off course

I think is enough for them

to feel anxious.

Yeah, there was actually

a study recently that

if you take two weeks off from training,

it doesn't have any impact

on your progress.

Yeah, because as we know,

muscle grows when you rest.

It's not when you're in the gym

that your muscle's growing, that's

when you're kind of

making the micro tears

that then cause the muscle to grow stronger.

So actually

taking a little time away

to let your body fully recover

and have what you would consider

as a deload week

can actually be really beneficial.

And Christmas is normally a time of

stress anyway, isn't it?

You're running about

trying to get Christmas presents,

you've got loads of social events as well,

meeting up with friends, you've got

your Christmas nights out,

then the travelling to see

friends and family.

So just take the week

and just rest,

be in the moment,

enjoy the time with friends and family

and don't be worrying about your training.

Absolutely.

And the thing is, so we know from experience

if we've been forced to take a week off,

whether that be due

to injury or

whatever else,

you actually come back

feeling stronger

sometimes, you feel like you've got more energy

and you can throw yourself back into it.

So reframing it in your mind

as a good thing,

as a rest week

and as part of your training programme

actually is really

all you need to do.

Yeah, and I think as well

when you take a week off,

when you go back,

you're like, okay,

let's hit this, let's do it,

I'm smashing it again.

Whereas if you're a bit tired

and you're trying to push through,

you're not training as hard as you could,

so having that rest is actually

really beneficial.

Absolutely agree.

I think we have covered that.

Let's go into tip number three then.

Tip number three,

weight for it.

Okay, I'm waiting.

No, that's the title.

Alright, okay.

And it's weight,

w-e-i-g-h-t.

Ah!

And it's all about

not worrying about what the scales

say over Christmas.

Yes, I think this tip

is particularly important for anybody

that's been on a weight

loss journey

because I think it's important

to remember over the Christmas period

that progress is

never a straight line.

It's going to go up and down,

things are going to vary and actually

putting on a little bit

of weight over Christmas and New Year

is not the end of the world.

Everybody is going to be a bit

heavier by December 27th.

I will put money on that.

I know that I will anyway.

Oh, definitely.

And the thing is

if you stay away from the scales,

it's going to make you feel better,

especially if you don't

have a good relationship

with the scales.

And it's more important to go on

how you feel

and how you look in your clothes.

Everybody is going to be feeling

probably a little bit bloated,

a little bit heavy

just because we're eating foods

that we probably don't eat day to day.

Over Christmas as well,

we tend to eat foods

that are richer,

that are higher

in salt content

for instance as well

and that can cause your body

to hold on to water.

And water retention is one of those big things.

It's why

when people start a weight loss journey,

they have big weight

losses in the first few weeks.

It's because your body is changing,

it's not withholding as much water

and that water weight

drops off quickly.

If you're consuming more food,

your body is holding on to more energy,

so you're obviously going to be heavier.

That isn't going to be body

fat that you've put on

in that short space of time.

No. Some of it will be water weight,

some of it will be your muscles

holding on to glycogen from the carbohydrates,

some of it will be some body

fat as well.

But these things are normal.

Our bodies, even from day to day,

outside of the Christmas period,

our body composition

changes every day.

Because your body is burning off

fat cells, it's using, it's

replenishing, it's replacing,

these things are totally normal.

And your body composition

three weeks after Christmas

will be totally different

than it was during Christmas week.

And if you're someone that doesn't

have a great relationship with the scales,

it might actually be a good idea

just to put them away

until say maybe mid-January,

you know those three weeks after Christmas

that you just mentioned.

Because the number on the scale

then will be completely different

than if you weighed yourself

a couple of days after Christmas.

Do you know what,

that's pretty good advice for everybody,

because watching the scales is never going

to give you an accurate representation

of what your body composition is.

No, absolutely not.

Right, do you want to hit us with

number four?

Yeah, I'm actually quite proud

of the title of tip number four, which is...

Gobble Gobble.

Ladies and gentlemen, my husband.

Gobble Gobble.

That was actually

my Grindr username back in the day.

It wasn't.

Oh my god.

And this is all about

using protein as a safety

net against overeating,

grazing on leftovers and sweets.

I think what you're trying to say here is that

we should be prioritising protein on our plate,

so make sure that you're eating that first

because protein

makes us feel fuller

for longer.

Yes, if you are worried

about overeating,

having the protein source that's on your plate

first can really help with that

because it is

what sends the signal to your brain

that tells you that you are full

and it makes you feel satiated.

Also, it actually reduces the hunger hormone

ghrelin as well,

so you're feeling fuller

and your hunger hormones are reduced,

which means you're probably going to graze

a little bit less as well.

So not many people

realise this as well,

but eating sufficient

amounts of protein can help

to stabilise your blood sugar,

which means that you're not going

to get that mid-afternoon crash

and that can be particularly dangerous

if there is a big tub

of Celebrations or Heroes (or

other sweets are available).

Yeah, that's a really good point

and I think that's good for people

to take into the new year as well.

You know you sometimes

get that mid-afternoon

crash when you're in work,

it's three o'clock and you're like,

oh god, I need something to get me through

the afternoon.

Try and have a big portion

of protein at lunchtime

and then hopefully that will stop that

from happening later on in the afternoon.

So from gobble

gobble to tip number five,

which is another title that I'm quite proud of.

What is it Alan?

Tip number five is Ho-Ho-Hoarding.

So the point of this is don't overbuy stuff

and have it in the house

readily available.

This is something that goes on

quite a lot over Christmas.

It is not unusual.

I'm going to turn into Sofia Petrillo here.

Can I just say for the baby

gays listening, that reference

there was the Golden Girls in case they don't

know who Sofia Petrillo is.

Oh, that was handy.

If you're listening on an audio platform

you won't see this

but this is our Golden Rules:

The Wit and Wisdom of the Golden Girls,

which is always on display

in our living room.

It's a gayducation.

Gayducation!

Picture it,

you're in the supermarket

on Christmas Eve, the queues are huge.

I have seen people in Tesco

back in the UK at Christmas time

and they have got not just one full trolley,

not just two full trolleys, but people

with like maybe three trolleys

full of food.

And it's just like,

when are you going to eat all that?

I think people need to remember

that the supermarkets

are only closed for a day or two.

You don't need to be stockpiling

for another pandemic.

Put the toilet rolls

down.

Well, if you're overeating

you might need them.

True, true.

It's good now that a lot of the supermarkets

do close for a little longer

over Christmas to give their staff time off,

but really

it's only a couple of days.

It's not two weeks, it's

not forever.

People have this fear

that they're going to run out of something

and really,

is it the end of the world if you do?

Just one little thing?

I'm pretty sure you've got other stuff

in the cupboards.

Yeah, and I think as well if you've got stuff

out on the kitchen counter,

it's in sight, you're going to eat it.

Put it in the cupboards, it's out of sight

and then the temptation

is reduced as well.

That's a good tip, but even at that,

having too much stuff in your fridge

and in your cupboard

is still

going to encourage you

to overdo it.

So just maybe don't buy

as much stuff.

It's not the end of the world.

Okay Derec, hit us with tip number six.

Tip number six

is to savour the flavour.

Now this is all about being mindful

and present while you eat.

I really like this one and people

might have heard it already,

but it actually takes 20 minutes

for the message to come

from your stomach to your brain

to let you know that you're full.

Yeah, just by slowing down

the speed at which you're eating

does allow

your body time to recognise that,

to register that you don't need anymore.

Whereas if you're eating too quickly

and you're kind of just shovelling it in,

then you're

not giving your brain that time to register

and you're going to overeat.

Between every bite,

put your fork down,

engage in conversation

with your friends and family

and then start eating again

and you'll realise that you will start

to become full

as the meal goes on.

Rather when, like you said,

you're shovelling it in

and then 20 minutes later,

you're still hungry.

The Christmas meal

when whoever you're with,

whether it's with family, friends,

whoever,

take your time to savour it

and not just the food, but

savour the conversation as well.

It's about being in the moment, it's

about being present

and enjoying and making memories.

While we're on the subject

of savour the flavour,

dips and sauces,

just be mindful of those

because they can normally

be quite calorie dense.

Those liquid calories

sometimes people just pour

instead of

using them as a dip

and you're using way more.

As you said, they're really calorie dense

because usually they have quite

a lot of dietary fat

and oils in them

and that can have

an astronomical impact

on the amount of calories

that you consume.

Yeah, I mean, fat's not bad for you, it's

just that they're very high in calories.

So yeah, you can increase your calorie intake

without actually realising it.

Yes, that was a good little extra tip on there.

So shall we go on to the next one?

Tip number seven

is sashay away

and this is really about taking some time out

and going for a walk.

Whether that might be

Christmas Day, Boxing Day, Christmas Eve,

whenever it is,

getting out for a

walk is super, super

beneficial to our physical health

as well as our mental health.

Walking is an excellent form of cardio

and a lot of people overlook it.

They think that they need to jog

or they need to run but

actually brisk

walking is really good

and it's a big calorie burner too.

Especially for our community,

the LGBTQ+ community

and especially

at Christmas time,

you might need a break from your family.

Going back to visit family

can sometimes be quite stressful

so actually getting away from them,

going for a 15 minute walk

just gives you that breathing space

and it just gives you a little bit of time

to reset.

Yes, and while we are on the subject

of a 15 minute walk,

there was research

that was conducted by the University of Exeter

and what they found was that a brisk

15 minute walk

really and quite

significantly brought down

chocolate cravings.

So with the study that they did,

they found that people who had gone for a brisk

15 minute walk ate 50%

less chocolate

Five Zero?

Five Zero!

Five zero, wow.

So they cut it in half.

So if you are worried

about binging on the box of chocolate

that is beside you,

walking actually

helps with that.

Love that tip.

Walking also

helps regulate cortisol

which is your stress

hormone as well.

So if the family environment

is maybe a bit toxic then

and you are feeling a bit stressed,

get outside,

get yourself wrapped up,

if you are in the UK,

and go for

a walk just to clear your head.

And as we know, managing

your cortisol levels is crucial

when it comes to weight management as well

so if that is a priority for you

then definitely try

and bring your stress down.

Ok Derec, let's

go for tip number 8.

Tip number 8 is bedroom pump.

Now get your mind out of the gutter,

it's not what you think it is.

This is about

having short

bursts of exercise.

Well a bedroom pump

could be a short burst of exercise.

Great tip again

and especially with our clients.

A lot of our clients are going

to be travelling for Christmas

so on our last check in before Christmas

I'll be making sure

if they have access to a gym,

if they want to work out and if they don't

then we can make sure that we have

put some short workouts on the app for them

so that they can maybe do

like a hit session at home

or maybe some of them

might have resistance bands

for example, we'll create a workout for them.

Or they might just get out

and do a jog for example,

it doesn't have to be

a full gym workout.

Like we said earlier on,

if you just want to take a week out

and do no exercise

that's actually not a bad thing

but if you feel that

you want to maintain your fitness levels

or you just want to get in some exercise

then this is a really good way of doing it.

Just short at home workouts,

you won't have the equipment

that the gym has but

you don't really need it, eh?

No, you can do a brilliant workout

just with body weight, do a full body workout,

20 minutes, get

in, get it done

and you'll be feeling great after it.

I love a resistance band,

absolutely love a resistance band

because you can get a really good workout

using one of those as well.

You can have

some resistance training

without the weights in the gym

and you can control the resistance as well

because you can shorten the band

a little bit, you can pull it tighter

and that increases

that resistance on the band.

So you can really get a great workout

in a very confined space

using one of those, eh?

Totally and some people don't realise

actually that the more bands

that you add to say like your D handles

the more resistance you'll get as well.

You don't need to have one band on the handles

so you can make it as easy

or as difficult as you want.

And the good thing is as well,

they're really compact,

they are really light

and you can just throw them

into a toiletry bag,

they don't take up a lot of space.

So that is the ultimate

piece of travel fitness

equipment, resistance bands.

And they're cheap as well,

you can get a decent set

for like £15 off the internet.

We are not working for

a resistance band manufacturer,

we are not earning any commission

but it sounds like it.

Yeah, no they're great, we love them.

We used them during lockdown

and we got some really good results.

We did, we used them quite a lot.

We used them,

they're really good for core workouts

in particular, there's lots

you can do with resistance bands.

Okay Alan, give us the next one.

Okay, number

nine is the thirst trap

and this is all about

managing your alcohol intake

without being the party

pooper basically.

Look, it's normal,

if you do drink alcohol

over the Christmas period,

there are definitely more

events and occasions

where alcohol is present

and you're more likely to drink.

Yeah, one tactic that we do,

especially if we are somewhere

where the drinks are flowing freely, is

have one alcoholic drink

and then one glass of water.

Yes, that is a really good tip

and it also has the added

benefit of the next day,

it mitigates your hangover.

Your hangover definitely

is not as bad

if you have been drinking

plenty of water the previous evening

and maybe not drinking

as much alcohol.

Yeah, and we all know

as we get a bit older, the hangovers get worse

so anything to help

that is definitely a bonus.

Yeah, that's one really good

way to manage alcohol intake.

I think another way,

and this is especially important,

if you are out in a bar

or a club, then you can,

if you're drinking spirits,

you can ask for it in a tall glass,

you can ask for plenty of mixer

and maybe ask them as well

to not fill the glass up with ice.

Because when they do that,

you don't get as much mixer,

it's not diluted down,

you drink the drink faster

and then you get your next one quicker.

Yes, if anybody from Glasgow

is listening to

this and has been to the Polo Lounge,

they will know.

They gave you those stubby little glasses

which was full of ice

and it would be like two drinks

and then you would be onto another one

and then you would be steaming.

And another

tip to help with

alcohol intake

and this is probably especially

to do with weight management is that certain

alcoholic drinks

can be higher in calories.

So think like beer,

Baileys, that sort of thing.

So swapping those out for alternatives

is always a good option.

Baileys is a bit of a Christmas classic.

I think most people have it over

Christmas but

it's really creamy, it's

really calorific compared

to some other drinks.

If you are looking for some swaps as well,

if you're maybe drinking Spirit

and mixer,

switching

your mixer to something

like a soda water

or something

that is sugar free,

really, really good

because that's straight away

going to cut down the calorie

intake as well in those drinks.

And one last point

I would want to say on this is another reason

why you would want to manage

your alcohol intake

and it really underlines

everything I would say is

that alcohol ruins

your sleep quality.

Even if you pass out

because you've drank so much,

you're not going to get that

REM sleep that you need to feel rested

the next day.

I mean that's what the Christmas,

New Year period really should be about.

You should go back

in the New Year to your work

feeling like you've had a good rest.

And actually that

tip pretty naturally

leads us on to our final tip

which is tip number 10.

This is probably the title

that I'm most proud of.

This is a gay in a manger.

This is all about protecting your sleep

over Christmas and New Year.

Christmas you're

going to be super busy,

social battery drain is a huge thing

and it's okay

to leave a party early

to catch up on your sleep

which is also known as, Derec?

I have forever done this.

I am notorious for my Irish exit.

It's where you are out somewhere

or you're at a party and you just leave

and don't tell anybody

because you want to go home.

Yeah, that's the Irish exit.

And don't feel guilty for that as well.

You're looking after yourself

so you can be Irish

for the night and just leave.

I view it as me expressing my culture.

Good point.

Look, the festive period

is a really, really good time

to let your hair down,

unwind, enjoy yourself

and to catch up

with people in a social setting.

But it's also really crucial that you use it

to catch up on sleep, to catch up on rest

and to start the New Year

feeling refreshed.

People might not actually know that sleep

is actually the foundation

of mood regulation

so if you're sleep deprived

you're more likely to overeat,

you're probably more likely

to miss exercise

and you're not going to be very nice

to be around either.

But sleep is really key

over the festive period.

I really struggle getting enough sleep

and I know from my own

personal experience that

when I get enough sleep

I am definitely a better version of myself

the next day.

I can second that.

So basically what we're saying with this tip

and what we want to drill home with this tip is

make sure that you get

some silent nights.

That is the worst one yet.

I've been thinking of these

cheesy puns for a week.

Thank god we've got this recorded

and I don't need to listen to them anymore.

Right, okay.

I think I am all punned out.

Okay, why don't we do a quick summary

of all the tips. Okay.

Tip number one was don't

be a drag to your future self

by planning to offset everything in January.

Tip number two was rest

ye merry gentlemen,

which is don't be worrying

about taking some time off from the gym.

Tip number three, weight for it...

Don't watch the

scales over Christmas.

Tip number four was

gobble gobble up that protein

so make sure that you're prioritising it.

Tip number five was don't go ho-ho

hoarding in the supermarket.

Tip number six was savour

the flavour so make sure you're

enjoying every bite.

Tip number seven was to sashay away

and enjoy some walks over

the Christmas period.

Tip number eight was to

get in a bedroom pump

with some short bursts of exercise.

Tip number nine was to avoid the thirst trap

by managing your alcohol intake.

And the final one, tip number

ten was again a manger

which basically means

make sure you're sleeping like a baby.

But overall remember that

the festive period is there to be enjoyed

so don't stress yourself out about it.

So the key takeaway is

eat the food, drink the water,

take the walk and definitely

be kind to yourself.

Hopefully

you enjoyed today's show

and there were maybe one or two tips

that you can take away from that.

Remember

if in January you're feeling like

you maybe want a bit of a change,

maybe you want to lose weight, build muscle,

build confidence,

we're here to help.

Outlifting Lounge is just part of what we do.

Alan and I run Outlifting

which is a service for gay,

bi and trans men who want to transform

their bodies,

build unstoppable confidence

while they do so.

So we're talking personalised

workout plans,

nutrition planning,

accountability coaching, weekly check-ins,

you've got an app,

we've got a hub with recipes,

there is so much to our service.

If that sounds like

the kind of thing that you might use

then you can check us out.

Our website is outlift.ing

and you can find us on socials

as well on Instagram and on TikTok.

Our handle is @outlift.ing

If you ever want to have a free discovery call

so that you can chat to us and see

if our service

is the right fit for you,

you can book yourself into that

through our website as well.

But that's us for now

so thank you so much for tuning in.

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But for now, over and Outlifting.