Last weekend brought me the first of my December Christmas parties and with that came the high carb and sugar laden foods, high volumes of alcohol and an extremely late night that get most people searching Google for the best hangover cure.

What followed was a Sunday of zero activity apart from pressing the buttons on the remote control, low mood & depression and once more, high volumes of carb rich food.

This is commonplace following a big night of alcohol consumption & little sleep and, depending on your chosen lifestyle it may happen more than it does for others.

This year, for me, it is going to happen frequently in December with more parties booked over the next three weekends and I’ve not begun to think about New Year’s Eve yet.

At least two out seven days in the week will put you off track for behaviour and to be blunt you will be out of the fat loss game for a further five days following a heavy night of alcohol.

Testosterone and growth hormone will be low (important for men and women), oestrogen will be high and so will insulin levels. These amongst many other hormones will throw your whole system out of whack and it takes time plus the correct choices to put you back on track again.

Is limiting damages the best hangover cure?

I’ve taken the approach of trying to limit damages as best I can and I would be very surprised if I saw any gains over this festive period. My method to keep energy levels up, positivity high and to avoid fat gains over this time are mostly like they are any other day of the week.

I always start my Monday in work early and make sure it is my busiest day of the week be that with Personal Training sessions for clients, administrations tasks or even writing this blog. As an early Monday morning’s winter alarm goes off at 5.45am (following a heavy weekend) you can guarantee my first thoughts are not printable here but once a significant bunch of work has been achieved by 9.30am I’m starting to feel good and back in the game again.

Mixed with the work what is also vital is the nutrition intake.

You must tell yourself that the weekend is over and it is time to get serious. If you begin your day with a ruck load of orange juice, coffee and cereal then you can kiss goodbye to that damage limitation because you are once again raising insulin levels and storing more fat. Have your day ready with your high fat, medium protein breakfast at hand and be ready to consume before you get chance to be too hungry.

Apart from keeping your insulin levels low, the nutrients in the right choice of breakfast will start to lift your mood and reawaken your brain after the weekend torture you have put it through. Couple this water and the right supplements (alkalising salts and fish oils a must here) and hey! Life’s getting better already.

Is exercise the best hangover cure?

Depending on how my day is panning out the next task on the list is exercise and fortunately this Monday I managed to schedule my own session for 12pm. With a little help from the correct choice of pre workout drink I have managed to perform an eyeball popping, lung busting workout of immense proportions involving large compound movements.

Today’s session was: row 5mins on C2 @ 1.49/500m. Mobilise and then:
BB Back Squat @ 80kg
Dead lift @ 90kg
10 x 1min/1min (5 sets of each) with a target of 18-20 reps per set.
The weight was not the heaviest but the challenge came in the achieving of the 20reps inside 60 seconds.

This was followed by:
Bench Press
Seated Row
10 x 45/45 (5 sets each) varying weights.

Followed by lunch of similar macronutrients to breakfast and that’s it! Depression and hangover gone, mood lifted, nutrients A1 and I’m back to square one which was where I was on Friday.

Ans so to finish…..

It simply won’t cut it to eat a load of high sugar food then turn up at the gym to ‘burn off’ your weekend sins and think you are improving. Start the day right with your very first actions and you have a chance. Begin on the wrong foot and you could very well not get going until the morning after by which time you will have set your self back even further!

Do you want to join a gym this January and actually still be attending it by the Spring? Do you want to lose fat, and for once not put it all straight back on the minute you are not “on it” anymore?

If you then answered yes then its about time you visited MPA Fitness in Northwich.

If you are really serious about learning to have a better relationship with food and alcohol in January 2019, and your New Year’s resolution is going to be to finally STOP BURYING YOUR HEAD IN THE SAND and start taking control of your health issues, then its time to get in touch with the experts that we have here at MPA Fitness.  We will help you to achieve your health and fitness goals for 2019.