With the silly season just around the corner, often the one thing that gets put on the backburner is your health and fitness. Over recent months I have been working with a handful of riders in preparation for the Woodhill 2 Man Series, Taupo’s MX Fest and the Whakatane Summercross and it’s important that we keep our eye on the prize. As we all know, this time of the year is generally a time where we consume too many alcoholic beverages, indulge a few too many calories and probably get an overdose of Vitamin D. So how can we make sure that we do our very best to ensure we don’t revert back too square one and undo all our hard work spent in the gym or out riding through 2016?

Energy In vs. Energy Out

Eat what you need, not what you want. Pound for pound, muscle burns more calories at rest than fat. So the more muscle you have, the higher your resting metabolic rate (the number of calories your body needs to function at rest) is. Admittedly, having something sweet or savoury isn’t going to put you weeks behind in training; providing you are training! Can I eat what I want? Within reason and moderation. When you exercise, can afford to enjoy some of the things you really like but remember, they are treats for a reason and not a stable part of your diet.

Hydration

Water helps our body in many ways. It carries nutrients to cells, it helps to remove waste products from our major organs and it helps us to control our body temperature. Don’t forget it!

• Body Weight in Kgs’s x 0.033L then add an extra 250ml for each hour of exercise.

Aerobic Training

Training doesn’t have to be boring. Head outdoors, soak up some Vitamin D and spend time with your family and friends. Forest walks, off-road mountain biking, kayaking, water skiing – you are training whilst having fun and spending quality time with your loved ones.

Quick Fact: Vitamen D boosts weight loss, fights depression, increases energy levels and helps keep bones strong and healthy.

Don’t skip breakfast!

As we all know, breakfast is the meal that set’s us up for the day. Not only will it boost your blood sugar levels in the morning it’ll also satisfy your cravings and help reduce the urge to eat those sweet and savoury mid-morning treats.

Note: If your great grandparents didn’t eat it, don’t touch it. It’s likely processed and your body doesn’t need it!!

Stress Less

As much as it may stress you out just thinking about exercising, once you actually start working out, you’ll experience less stress in every part of your life. You’re not the only person who will benefit from more happiness and less stress in your life. When you’re less stressed, you’re less irritable. Consequently, everyone in your life will benefit from it too; your partner, team mate, kids, and co-workers.

Look Good, Feel Good

After a few weeks of consistent exercise, you can feel your clothes fitting differently and see that your muscle tone has improved. Remember, you have worked too hard in 2016 to throw this down the gurgler all for the short term gain of satisfying your sweet tooth.

The ‘A’ Word

Because alcohol is made from sugar/starch, it contains lots of calories – seven calories per gram, almost as many as pure fat. Calories from alcohol are ’empty calories’, they have no nutritional value. Most alcoholic drinks have vitamins and minerals, but not usually in amounts that make any significant contribution to our diet. Drinking alcohol also reduces the amount of fat your body burns for energy. While we can store nutrients, protein, carbohydrates, and fat in our bodies, we can’t store alcohol. So our systems want to get rid of it, and doing so takes priority. All of the other processes that should be taking place (including absorbing nutrients and burning fat) are interrupted.