10 rounds for time of:
15 ft Rope Climb, 1 ascent
95 pound Back squat, 29 reps
135 pound barbells Farmer carry, 10 meters

It’s a HoliDAY, not a HoliWEEK (or holiMONTH)

The December newsletter kicked off by discussing the holidays and their ability to derail all the good stuff you’ve worked hard for over the past year.  Holiday parties (ok Roots can take some responsibility for that one but that was a pretty awesome Paleo centric holiday party!), school celebrations, gifts of food, and the overall feelings of anticipation and excitement can send us into a downward spiral of missed workouts and consecutive evenings of overindulgence.

I honestly think that in the case of holidays, food is an integral part of our celebration.  The hard part is making the distinction between the food we really love and the insane amount of holiday crap that fills our worlds during the holiday span.  The other hard part is getting back on your A game after the holiDAY. Notice I emphasized “day”, it’s not a holiWEEK.

While working out the other day a friend and I discussed how to distinguish between the worthwhile holiday pleasures and the holiday crap.

Food is fuel but food also has cultural significance and the holidays highlight this like no other.  Take for example my family whose Christmas morning holiday tradition is locks and bagels and french toast casserole (lots of bread).  Would my Christmas be the same without it?  No, for me personally, it wouldn’t at all.  And will that one morning breakfast greatly increase my chances of getting cancer or Alzheimer’s later in life?  No, because it’s not my usual pattern, far from it.

Over the years, thanks mostly to my Mom, we have tweaked and modified our holiday recipes to be gluten-free and to incorporate good quality ingredients (ie butter instead of margarine, yes, I too once ate margarine) but we still enjoy those holiday pleasures.

This holiday season, use the skills you’ve acquired over the past year to make recipes with a better twist and to identify the good stuff vs. the brightly colored enticing processed crap.  Eat Mom’s delicious breakfast casserole and avoid the grocery store holiday jelly filled red, white, and green sprinkled donuts that someone brings to your office party.

Hear are five steps to a successful holiday finish.  No, this isn’t a cheesy list for how to stay lean over the holidays and none of the items on the list are gimmicks.  That would be silly. Can you add any to the list?

Five Steps for a Respectable Holiday Season Finish

1. Make the distinction between quality holiday pleasures and pure processed brightly colored crap – you will feel like crap the next day, it’s just not worth it. 
2. Tweak and modify your holiday recipes to make them more Paleo respectable (gluten-free, no raw sugar, you get the idea)
3. Give yourself some leeway on the holiDAY, but remember, it’s a holiDAY, not a holiWEEK, or holiMONTH.  Get back with the program the VERY next day.
4. Always remember – there is never an excuse to eat large quantities of (if any, ever) Chips Ahoy Holiday themed cookies or the like – ever. It is pure crap. 
5.  Honor your wellness.  I have no idea exactly what I mean by that but the phrase just came to me and it sounded good.