So unless you were literally living under a rock in a far far away location without internet or phone access – there’s no way that you could have escaped the AWESOME Long Weekend that saw the Western Bulldogs take out the AFL Premiership – GO DOGGIES!
With this victory, the entire Melbourne city proceeded to party like it was 1999 or something – we’re talking BBQs, booze, picnics, parties, night clubs, doesn’t matter what – if you could eat it, drink it or just consume it, the people of Melbourne were all over it. Whilst this made for a spectacular long weekend, unfortunately, there are a number of us (myself included) wandering around today feeling TIRED, BLOATED, FAT and pretty much below par. For some of us these physical symptoms are enough of a crap start to the week, but for those of us emotionally invested in our Health and Fitness journeys, we also experience the guilt, the frustration and also general anger and sadness about once again, starting the week off chasing our tail. I have clients that had started to drop KGs at the end of last week, and for many of them, they’ll be back to where they were a few days ago, So what’s the solution? Do we unplug from life and commit to kale and green tea (die of actual boredom) – probably not even possible for those of us that enjoy our social lives. The answer lies in how you manage the next 48 hours as to how much of an impact your weekend had.
It’s too easy to just let Sunday drag into Monday and then finish off the left overs, maybe have a glass of wine with Monday dinner to take the edge off, or celebrate you made it though. If you want to pick up the pieces quickly, jump back on the progress train then you have to act quickly and ensure that you stick to these “post party” rules.
Rule 1: Start re-hydrating – you’ll feel better, your skin will look better and you’ll have more energy.
Rule 2: Throw yourself straight into training – yes it will hurt, you will feel sluggish and jiggly but come Tuesday, you’ll have thanked yourself
Rule 3: Get back onto your healthy eating plan right from the get go – chuck away all leftovers, pour the wine down the sink. There will be more opportunities to eat and drink in the future – you will actually be able to cope doing this
Rule 4: Overload on veggies, take a multi vitamin if needed – right now you are depleted nutritionally and need to get some minerals, antioxidants, vitamins into you and quickly. Thing raw, think rainbow, think fresh
Rule 5: Supermarket shop and ensure that you have plenty of healthy choices to ride out the first few days of feeling crappy. Poor choice leads to poor decisions so stock your house up with healthy goodies
Rule 6: Get to bed SO EARLY on Monday night, it would make your Nanna jealous. Sleep off the pain of the weekend. When you are rested your body can work efficiently again.
So if you overindulged on the weekend, we hope you enjoyed yourself, but now want you back to optimum training client mode. Stick to the above rules and you’ll be ready to take on the week head first, and make a serious dent in your goals. Who knows, it might even get you fighting fit for the next weekend of partying (noooooo! never drinking again!)