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All the tools you need to enjoy your holiday season without losing focus on your training and nutrition.

CROSSFIT 1864’S

SURVIVAL GUIDECHRISTMAS

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CONTENTSe

NUTRITION

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FESTIVE TIPPLES

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HOLIDAY TRAINING

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MINDFULNESS

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INTROe

Whether it’s seeing the John Lewis advert for the first time, buying your tree, turning on the radio to find Christmas songs on every station, or pulling out your ugly jumper, you’ve probably noticed by now that the holidays are upon us. December and all the festivities it brings is at once exciting, enjoyable, crazy and stress-inducing. On one hand, you get to spend time with family and friends, you go out every weekend to parties, and then, there’s the presents! Whether you’re giving or getting, everyone loves presents.

On the other hand, there’s the stress.... the stress of trying to make it to everyone’s festive do, of spending enough time with your family, of not breaking your bank on all the evenings out and the presents you need to buy... And we haven’t even touched on your health and wellness yet!

You signed up to the gym in the fall and have been proud of the consistency of your training. Likewise, your nutrition is on point and both of these have come together in perfect harmony to bring you closer and closer to your goals.

But now, in the time leading up to the holidays, all you can think about is the crap you’re going to catch from your friends when you tell them you can only have a soda water, or the look on your mother’s face when you turn down the Christmas Pudding she spend 12 hours making, or your siblings asking you if ‘paleo’ means you have to hunt for your dinner and cook it over an open fire.... it’s almost to much to bear!

Never fear! CrossFit 1864 has you covered with a guide to help you survive everything the holiday season can throw at you... from pub crawls and dinners with family, how to train during the holidays and, most importantly, how to keep your sanity! Read this guide and, when the first week of January rolls around, you’ll be ready to hit the ground running.

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NUTRITIONe

“Failing to plan is planning to fail” - Benjamin Franklin

For most people, the holidays are filled with family gatherings, reunions with friends and at least one or two Christmas Parties to attend. Many see this as the start of the inevitable downward spiral to festive bloating and Christmas weight gain, aka ‘Santa Belly’.

This time of year can often be stressful for those of us who take our health and fitness seriously…how are we going to fulfil all of our social commitments and enjoy the holidays without losing everything we have worked so hard for in the past year? This year, we want you to see this calendar of social events as an opportunity… It’s the start of you planning for success!

We have 5 tips that we use every year to help us beat the Christmas bulge, avoid getting to January feeling like we have been bulldozed by Santa’s Sleigh, and also ensure we enjoy our holidays with our family and friends.

Before we go any further, we highly recommend using a calorie/macronutrient tracker to help with your nutrition and we are huge fans of My Fitness Pal. On this app you can pre-set your own daily calorie, protein, carb and fat targets (more on how to calculate these coming up).

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If you know your calendar of social events, you can get ahead of the curve and pre-plan your nutrition for those particular days. Even if you don’t know exactly what food will be on offer or where you will be eating, with prior planning you can off-set any potential problems.

Do you have evening Christmas parties or family get-togethers planned? If you are going out to a restaurant, you can look at the menu beforehand and pick out what you intend to have. Log this (or something similar) into your tracker app and you can plan the rest of the days’ meals around that, making sure you stick to your daily targets.

What type of food should you plan to eat before your Christmas Party? Shoot for lower calorie meals made up of lean proteins (chicken, turkey, white fish etc) and lots of fibrous veggies (broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage etc). Eating low calorie, satiating foods during the day means that you will be able to enjoy your meal out and will allow you to stay close to your normal calorie target, without having to worry too much about what you choose to eat in the evening.

If you don’t know what you will be eating or where you will be going, then make sensible choices on the menu when you get to the restaurant. For example, if you want a big dessert, then you need to give the starter a miss and be more restrained with your main course. With a little forward planning and thought, you can avoid over-doing it every time you have a social event. Not only that but you can make sure you can still enjoy yourself and not be the odd one in the corner chewing on lettuce leaves with a soda and lime.

Tip #1Plan Your Meals Ahead of Time

Hunger always sneaks up on us, especially when you can smell all the good food coming from the kitchen! This can cause people to easily over-indulge, so our next tip aims to help quell your hunger pangs. If you are prone to overeating at festive meals then try this tip!

In the lead up to a big festive meal (30-60 minutes before), try having a small meal consisting of some lean protein and some veggies. This meal will be low in calories but also satisfy some hunger pangs, meaning you are less likely to over-eat later on.

Tip #2Eat Meat & Veg

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If you’re anything like me, during the holidays, your eyes grow twice as big as your belly and you will fill your plate right to the edges. Or, someone is very kindly serving you and THEY have eyes bigger than your belly and have put way more on your plate than you need. How do we work around this?

Aim to leave some food on your plate!

Aim to eat your meat and vegetables first, as these are the most satiating, and then go for the extras after.

For food to actually have a satiating effect you need to give it time, so don’t shovel it into your mouth like it’s an AMFAP (As Much Food As Possible). Take your time with each mouthful, chew your food and savour the tastes and textures. For added bonus points, compliment the chef on their cooking skills!

Tip #3leave something on your plate

You have all experienced this, probably at the office. Somebody brings in the donuts and leaves them right in your eye-line. Sure it’s easy to resist initially, but as time goes by, you find yourself glancing over more often… the sugary-glazed goodness is calling to you! Before you know it, you’re covered in sugar and icing with a mouthful of dough.

At Christmas, every household has those snacking bowls filled with nuts, sweets and other Christmas treats. They are there when you wake up and when you go to sleep. Just like with the donuts, you might think that you don’t stand a chance.

Put the food away and get it out of sight.

Not seeing the tasty treats lying out in the open will stop you mindlessly grabbing at them throughout the day, a seemingly harmless act that can add hundreds of calories in a few small handfuls.

If you physically have to go into a cupboard to get your snack then it adds an extra ‘barrier’ into the equation.

Tip #4put christmas sweets & snack bowls out of reach

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Tip #5

We don’t want you to be tracking your food or counting calories on Christmas Day, that’s just not cool.

We won’t be tracking our nutrition on Christmas day (maybe Boxing Day too?) and the only workouts we’ll be doing is moving food from plate to mouth (bicep gainz?). On those two days it is possible we will consume 1500–3000 more calories than we would normally eat from day to day.

Having occasions like this are perfectly acceptable and do not necessarily de-rail your long-term progress, if approached correctly. In fact, they’re actually a nice psychological break from the consistent logging and tracking in your pursuit of health and fitness.

However to make sure these blowouts don’t ruin us completely, we must ensure these days remain only these days and it does not run over to 3-4 days or a whole week.

To help you with this, there are a few neat tricks you can throw in to counteract any damage that Christmas Day can cause. One way to keep your mind at rest is to try and balance out the week’s calories. Consume a couple of hundred calories less for a few days prior to Christmas day and in the couple of days after. On the day of the blowout itself you can even try fasting before your Christmas meal, however this is not for everyone. I find fasting makes me eat more at the main meal. Instead, I prefer to eat a light meal mid-morning instead of having breakfast/lunch (Refer back to Tip #2). This keeps me satiated and lowers my calories for the day, which can help with damage limitation when the main meal arrives.

enjoy christmas day!

calculate your macros in 3 easy steps

Tracking calories might sound tricky, but it doesn’t need to be.

As mentioned before, if you plan on going hog wild on the big day, we recommend trying to eat at a slight calorie deficit in the few days before Christmas and a few days after.

Below is a simple process you can follow to get a ballpark figure of your daily calorie allowance along with your macronutrient breakdown. Whilst this is not bulletproof, we find it very useful especially during Christmas periods.

First, you need to calculate your Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE), i.e. the amount you churn through in your day-to-day life.

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Your Resting Energy Expenditure (REE) is the amount of calories you burn per day sitting around doing nothing. To find this number, you use the following simple equation:

REE For Males: (10 x bodyweight in kg) + (6.25 x height in cm) – (5 x age in years) + 5 REE For Females: (10 x bodyweight in kg) + (6.25 x height in cm) – (5 x age years) – 161

Let’s say you’re a 29 year old, 183 cm, 88 kg male. Here’s your equation with results rounded to the nearest whole number:

(10 x bodyweight in kg )+ (6.25 x height in cm) – (5 x age in years) + 5 = REE

(10 x 88) + (6.25 x 183) – (5 x 29 + 5) = REE

(880 + 1144) – (145 + 5) = 1884 (REE).

Remember this REE of 1884 calories is what would be burnt at REST, and does not take into account any activity level.

Step 2: Calculate your activity level

Next we need to factor in our activity level. To do this, we take the REE number (in our example, 1884 cals) and use a multiplier:

Sedentary: Just normal everyday activity like a little walking, a couple flights of stairs, eating, talking etc = (REE x 1.2)Light activity: Any activity that burns an additional 200-400 calories for females or 250-500 calories for a males more than your sedentary amount. = (REE x 1.375)Moderate activity: Any activity that burns an additional 400-650 calories for females or 500-800 calories for males more than your sedentary amount. (REE x 1.55)Very Active: Any activity that burns more than about 650 calories for females or more than 800 calories for males in addition to your sedentary amount. (REE x 1.725)

Most of us will fall somewhere between the light and moderate activity level, especially during Christmas when we tend to train less and generally be less active.

Let’s say our example male is going to do some light training for 20-30 minutes most days over Christmas, so we’ll give him the moderate activity level multiple.

1884 x 1.55 = 2920 calories

This number is approximately what our male would need to hit to maintain his current weight.

Step 1: Calculate your Resting Energy Expenditure

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However, we know Christmas and Boxing Day are going to be blowouts, so we want to counter for this. We recommend dropping your overall calories by 10-15% in the 3-5 days before, and the 3-5 days after the Christmas and Boxing Day blowout.

For our example male, who eats 2920 calories to maintain weight, we will use a 15% deficit.

2920 – (2920 x .15) = 2483 calories

Our male will aim to eat 2483 calories in the few days before Christmas and the few days after, in order to help mitigate any negative effects from his festive celebrations.

If you are new to tracking your nutrition or have little experience with macronutrient numbers, we suggest you stop here. You have your target calorie number, and this can be more than effective to maintain your weight over Christmas and avoid coming back with the bulge.

Those of you who want to take it a step further need to calculate your macronutrients.

Step 3: Calculate Your Macros

So you’ve got your TDEE sorted. Hi Fives and Chest Bumps!

Now let’s figure out the macronutrient ratios that will make up your Christmas Nutrition Plan.

Here are the calorie values for each macronutrient:

1g Protein = 4 Calories1g Carbohydrate = 4 Calories

1g Fat = 9 Calories

First let’s start with protein. Protein is essential for the growth of new tissue as well as fixing broken tissue – like what happens when you work out.

When lifting heavy and body-building, some use a measure of 1g of protein per pound of bodyweight.

However, for most people over Christmas we won’t be shifting that much heavy tin, so let’s use a more balanced approach: .825 g protein per pound.

So if our individual weighs 195 lbs (88 kg), and they are doing a moderate weight training program, then their protein intake will be:

195 x .825 = 161 g

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Next, let’s calculate fat. Fats can be incredibly beneficial for hitting your body composition goals, but they also affect our hormones; too little fat in our diet can be very harmful.

After a bit of research (and again, there are many opinions out there), we will designate 25% of overall TDEE calories to fat.

To figure out 25% of Overall TDEE:

(2483 cal x 0.25) / 9 cal per gram of fat = approx. 68 grams

We’ve now sorted protein and fats, but how many carbs do we eat? We allocate the rest of our calories (originally calculated from our TDEE) to Carbohydrates.

We started with 2483 Calories. We allocated 644 calories (161g) to protein, 612 calories (68 g) to fat.

2483 - 644 - 612 = 1227

Since 1g of carb equals 4 calories:

1227 / 4 = 306 g carbohydrates

Final Macros: Calories: 2483Protein: 161gFat: 68 gCarbohydrates: 306g

Remember our guy is eating at a 15% deficit, so may even lose a little weight before the Christmas binge!

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We could not have a Christmas Survival Guide and not mention alcohol, the glue that holds many a family Christmas together.

First, let’s look at the bad and good sides to alcohol…

Alcohol is a diuretic. In other words, it makes you pee! This is much the same as caffeinated products like teas, coffee and energy drinks do. If your hydration input does not match your output, you can experience symptoms like muscular fatigue, cramping and decreased performance, strength in particular.

Testosterone and Human Growth Hormone (HGH) are hormones secreted chemically by the body and a key factor in muscle development, growth and maintenance. You guessed it, alcohol negatively impacts the normal testosterone and HGH secretion process, the result is lowered recovery rate, slower muscular gains and having to work harder to maintain the good gains you already have.

Can drinking alcohol make you fat? It sure can. Your body considers alcohol to be a foreign invader that it wants no part of. Ingesting alcohol causes a rapid increase in alcohol metabolism until all the alcohol in your body can rid itself of the invader.

Alcohol also has a caloric density, meaning it has ‘energy’ that the body can (and does) use. As alcohol metabolism increases, alcohol is used by your body as a preferable energy source over other sources, thus suppressing the metabolism of fat. So, alcohol limits your ability to use your stored body fat for fuel.

FESTIVE TIPPLESe

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We won’t judge you if you enjoy a glass of bubbly over the festive period, and alcohol does also have documented positive effects including a reduced risk of Type 2 diabetes and CHD. As well as meaning you have more fun and are able to be sociable…but as with everything moderation is key!

In this respect, alcohol is very similar to sugar. Sugar is nutritionally void. But some sugar in your diet is absolutely fine, and will in no way impede your fat loss or muscle gain progress, provided you’re eating plenty of nutrient-dense foods, eating a decent amount of protein and fat, and adequate fibre.

Alcohol contains 7 calories per gram (technically making it a fourth macronutrient). However, as it’s not used in quite the same way as the others, it’s often not listed on nutrition labels.

This is why you’ll often see something like a beer contains 250 calories, but only 15 grams of carbs, zero fat and zero protein. That’s only 60 calories, but the other 190 come from alcohol.

So how do you more accurately factor alcohol into your nutrition? You just need to do some simple maths!

Divide the total calorie content of your drink by 4 (4 calories per gram of carbohydrate), and subtract this number from your carb allowance for the day.

So let’s say a bottle of beer has a calorie content of 300, divide that by 4 which is 75, so thats 75g carbohydrates knocked off your daily allowance. Pricey huh?!

Wine and beer have the biggest ‘price tags’ in terms of calories and carbohydrates, whereas spirits (without the sugary mixer!) and champagne are more friendly.

Bring on the bubbly!

With all that being said, this is Christmas!

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HOLIDAY TRAININGe

“There is no one giant step that does it, it’s just lots of little steps” - Peter A Cohen

Working out is good for us, that’s why we do it!

Over the holiday period, training every day can not only shake off the holiday hangovers, but it keeps us energised and in a good mood.

With the added energy expenditure over the course of the holidays (as opposed to sitting on your ass the whole time), you can also limit the damage from over-indulgences. Be careful you do not slip into the mindset of ‘I just burned off X amount of calories today I can eat X amount of food’…this is not accurate, and not a healthy mindset to develop.

By ‘Do Something Everyday’ we mean being active, it does not have to mean hitting the gym, as you will see below...

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Tip #1

When trying to workout over Christmas, it can be hard to motivate yourself, and it can be made even harder with the peer pressure of friends and family who can actually make you feel bad for trying to look after yourself!

The way to counteract this is to get them involved in the process too! Not only will you get to spend quality time with your loved ones, but you are both getting active at the same time.

I know what you are thinking, “There is no chance I am going to get anyone to come and train with me over Christmas!”. It’s hard enough to convince our friends to come and try this crazy thing called CrossFit at any other time throughout the year, what chance do you have over the holidays?

Well luckily we have you covered with Tip #3….

find a friend

Finding the time or enthusiasm to go for a workout over the Christmas period can be hard, especially if you have lots of family around and other other social events.

But, working out doesn’t have to involve lacing up the Nanos, strapping on your wrist wraps and covering the floor in chalk (you know who you are!).

Over the holiday period we just encourage you to be active, and the options are endless…

Go for a festive walk or hike. Go Sledging! Walking up and down hills ain’t easy, especially if you

are dragging a kid on a sledge. Build a snowman!

How about a snowball fight? Go ice skating

All of these activities are getting you up and moving and, better than that, they are fun and get your friends and family involved too!

You can get in a workout, and get your family involved and they won’t even know they are doing it!

Tip #2working out doesn’t have to be ‘working out’

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Just because you don’t have any equipment doesn’t mean you cannot do a workout!

http://bit.do/travelWOD

Some of us will have access to some kind of gym over Christmas, however it’s not always a CrossFit gym, so doing a CrossFit workout can be hard.

Here are some of our favourite ‘Non-CrossFit, CrossFit Workouts’:

Every Minute On the Minute, until Failure:Perform 5 burpees over bar at the start of every minute as a buy-in.

Then, perform front squats - Weight should be a weight you can do 8-10 reps, unbroken.Perform one reps in the first minute

Perform two reps in the second minutePerform three in the third minute

…continue in this manner until you can not complete the respective amount of repetitions of the minute you’re in.

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In 15 minutes complete as many reps as possible of…:Bench press - Choose a weight you can do 6-8 reps with

Every time you re-rack the bar perform 5 bent over barbell rows

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5 rounds for time:10 Deadlifts10 Burpees

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10 down to 1Back squat @ Bodyweight

Push-upPull-up

Perform 10 reps of the back squat, 10 reps of the push-up and then 10 reps of the pull-upPerform 9 reps of the back squat, 9 reps of the push-up and then 9 reps of the pull-upPerform 8 reps of the back squat, 8 reps of the push-up and then 8 reps of the pull-up

..Continue all the way down to 1 rep.

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Of course, if you can get to your local CrossFit box, then get down there! It’s a great chance to visit another community, get some coaching and get your workout in!

Tip #4no kit? no problem!

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MINDFULNESSe

“To understand the immeasurable, the mind must be extraordinarily quiet” - Jidda Krishnamurti

Christmas is meant to be a time for relaxing, enjoying the festive spirit and spending time with loved ones.

We can often get swept up in the holiday season and if left to its own devices it can actually be quite a stressful time.

We want you to spend your Christmas break unwinding, reclaiming your headspace, and re-setting the mind and soul…kinda.

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Mindfulness starts when your day begins, and over Christmas this does not start with an alarm.

Let’s turn all our alarms off. Now is the time to let your body get the rest it needs, and when you do eventually wake-up there is no need to jump out of bed.

We want you to come to a natural fully waking state.

What you may find is that you wake up, but spend the next 20-30 minutes drifting in and out of a light sleep.

Use this time to let your senses bring you round. You may notice the smells of cooking breakfast or fresh coffee being brewed, perhaps it’s sounds of the wind or rain outside, maybe you will be lucky enough to be woken by bird song - Whatever it is, take the time to appreciate the small things.

Tip #1morning mindfulness

Tip #2

Christmas can often be hectic, visiting family and meeting up with old friends. We can often come back from our break feeling more tired than when we left!

Our next tip involves you taking time each day to be peaceful.

Take a leisurely walk in nature, get quiet, and notice the beauty around you. Perform a short yoga or stretching sequence in a quiet space, or just sit and gaze out the window.

Take 10-15 minutes each day to just be calm and peaceful.

find stillness everyday

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Mindfulness comes not only from our attitude and actions, but also from our interactions with loved ones.

During each day give your whole attention and focus to a loved one. Listen to what they have to say, their thoughts, feelings and needs. Importantly, do this without judgement.

The goal is not to be their agony aunt and offer advice or try and solve their problems. Just listen, empathise, and be a comforting presence.

The key here is to be fully present. Put your phones away, turn off televisions or anything else that can cause a distraction.

By doing this you are helping those you’re listening to as well. They can un-load on issues that are cramping their headspace. Not only are you more relaxed and calm, but they will be too, creating a stress-free and more positive Christmas for everyone.

Tip #3shut up & listen

Tip #4

Relax, there is no work to do today…

We often find it hard to switch off from ‘work-mode’ and while our body may slow down, our heads can still be running on auto-pilot.

Turn your small daily activities into meditative rituals. Enjoy the little things that you do, from drinking your morning coffee and cooking your favourite breakfast to getting ready for the day. Wrapping presents can also be oddly meditative and have you seen the new colouring books for adults?!

Focus your whole attention on the task, notice the small details, and observe your thoughts and feelings. The busier you are, the more you need to slow down to cultivate awareness.

slow down

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Christmas is about spending time with loved ones and enjoying some much need rest and relaxation.

Take time to enjoy and appreciate the small pleasures. These are the things that we often take for granted, but if we stop to look we can see their value.

For me, this is couch naps. At Christmas I have the time to sit in front of the fire, and nap on the couch, usually accompanied by the gentle purring of our cat. I never get this luxury in the hustle of day to day life, and this is a simple thing I value when spending Christmas at home.

What about the time to read that book you have been meaning to get to, or to sit and do a crossword…or play Lord of the Rings Risk (something of a tradition in our household)

It’s these little extra’s that make Christmas so special, it affords us time to do the things we rarely get to do when life gets in the way.

Make sure you take the time to appreciate these experiences, it may be another year before you do them again!

Tip #5enjoy yourself

WISHING YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS

A HAPPY NEW YEAR!

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