How to Prepare for Thanksgiving | …and still stay on track with your nutrition!

Here are some things you can do the week before Thanksgiving that will allow you to enjoy your holiday and still stay on track with your fitness goals.

1. Plan your schedule. Take a look at the calendar and make a mental note that you will need to adjust your diet just a bit exactly one week before Thanksgiving.

2. Make adjustments to your carbs:
a.We slowly want to decrease your carbs leading up to Thanksgiving but not so much that you feel lethargic.
b.7 days out from the big day eliminate the following carbs:
     i.      Crackers, cookies, candy, pastries, pretzels, chips, and any other boxed carb.
     ii.      Have no more than 2 servings of fruit a day
     iii.      Save your healthy starchy carbs and grains for earlier in the day (not at dinner). This includes potatoes, rice, quinoa, oatmeal to name a few.
c.The Tuesday before Thanksgiving only have ONE serving of starchy carbs or grains in your day. You can have unlimited vegetable (broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, etc). If you workout use your single starch or grain for your pre-workout meal so you still have energy.
d.The day before Thanksgiving drop your fruit to just one serving. If you are working out keep your one starch or grain in your diet as a pre-workout. If you are not working out eliminate all starches and grains for this day. But all other veggies are great! You can eat them in unlimited amounts!

3. DO NOT eliminate your fat!
a.Because you are decreasing the heartier more filling carbs from your diet this week you want to make sure that you have a healthy fat at every meal. Nuts, avocado, olive oil, nut butters along with fatties protein sources like salmon are great.
b.Saturated fats like coconut oil and cultured butter are ok but avoid fatty cuts of red meat and other processed meats like sausage and salami.

4. Keep your Protein intake high
a.This one is easy! Have protein at every meal and stick to leaner sources like fish, turkey and chicken. Salmon although fattier is also ok.

5. Avoid alcohol the whole week leading up to Thanksgiving. 
a.Alcohol metabolizes like a fat. If you enjoy beverages such as wine or beer---you now have extra carbs that you are consuming too. The whole point of this week is to slowly reduce your carbs. When you drink your liver will first try to filter the alcohol out of your system before it breaks down anything else. This slows down your body’s ability to use the food you eat as energy. Instead you are likely to store what you ate as fat until your body can filter out the toxic alcohol. Save the drinks for the holiday!

6. ENJOY YOUR HOLIDAY!
a.Ideally you get up and have a great workout here at The 12 and go home to enjoy your family. Allow yourself to cheat on this day. You have used the whole week to prepare for this day so enjoy it.

7. Get up on Friday and workout! 
a.Take advantage of the extra carbs that you ate and use that energy in the gym. Explode is the PERFECT class to use those extra carbs!

Dessert Rehab | Pumpkin Banana Chocolate Bread

Ingredients:

•                    Two Double Chocolate Chunk or Chocolate Brownie Quest Bar

•                    1 cup GF Oat Flour

•                    1 cup GF Rolled Oats

•                    1 cup Pumpkin

•                    1.5 very ripe medium Bananas

•                    ¼ cup Sugar Free Honey

•                    ¼ cup baking stevia (or other desired sugar)

•                    3 tablespoon Coconut Oil

•                    2 eggs (or 1 cup egg white)

•                    1 tablespoon Cinnamon

•                    1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

•                    ½ teaspoon Pumpkin Pie Spice (or cloves, ginger, and nutmeg)

•                    ¼ teaspoon Sea Salt

•                    2 teaspoon Baking Powder

•                    ¼ teaspoon Baking Soda

Directions:

·         Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

·         Blend pumpkin and bananas together until smooth

·         Pour into bowl and add all other wet ingredients

·         In separate smaller bowl, combine the dry ingredients

·         Pour dry into wet ingredients, and stir until thoroughly combined

·         Pour into small bread loaf pan and mini muffin trays (or make just 1 medium bread loaf)

·         Bake bread in oven first for about 20-30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean

·         Bake mini muffins for about 10 minutes.

Macros per slice (makes 8):

Calories: 195. Protein: 12g. Net Carbs: 8g. Fat: 7g.

Don't Take Our Word For It...

“I have had the privilege of working with Nikki Boyd for the past three months. Nikki came highly recommended by a friend who had great success in achieving her fitness goals with Afterburn Nutrition at The 12. I am a clinical psychologist with years of training and experience in the area of eating and weight related disorders.  I have also personally had numerous counselors and trainers over the past 20 years since I had my own struggle with losing and maintaining weight. I have tried weight watchers, nutrisystem, Jenny Craig and Lindora for weight loss. Each program put me on a diet and I did lose weight only to gain it all back and then some.

Nikki's approach has been radically different. From day one she focused on nutrition and teaching me what my body needed and why it needed what it did.  She was not focused on the weight but on changing my body composition. Each week I looked forward to our meetings which were filled with excellent lessons in nutrition and food composition. She didn't tell me what to eat, instead she helped me figure out why certain food were better for me. She has helped me totally change my relationship with food because now I finally UNDERSTAND what I need to eat to achieve my goals. Nikki has changed my life dramatically!!!

My 10 year old twins have even benefitted from my work with Nikki because I'm happier and they are eating healthier than ever! Nikki is the perfect model and spokesperson for health and nutrition. She is credible because she physically and intellectually personifies what she teaches.” –Leslie R.

Turkey Time! | Crave-Worthy Turkey Burger Recipe

Ingredients:

1 pound lean ground turkey breast

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 tablespoons finely chopped parsley

3 tablespoons finely chopped rosemary

Cooking spray

4 low-carb English muffins

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

Lettuce leaves

2 tomatoes, sliced

1 avocado, sliced

Directions:

-Using your hands, mix the turkey, garlic, parsley and rosemary until just combined. Do not over mix.

-Divide into four equal portions and flatten each into one-inch thick patties.

-Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray and place patties in pan, in an even layer. Cook for six minutes, flip and cook for another six minutes.

-Slice open English muffins and spread mustard on half. Serve cooked patties in English muffins and top with lettuce, tomatoes and avocado.

Serves 4

Marcos Per Burger:

409 cal | 15 g fat (3 g sat) | 38 g carbs | 292 mg sodium | 13 g fiber | 5 g sugar | 36 g protein

Don't Take Our Word For It...

“Growing up I always struggled with my weight. I had bad habits of over-eating and over-snacking, especially right before bed.  By my junior year of high school I had hit 240lbs and knew I had to make a change. I tried little things here and there that took a little bit of the weight off but nothing really worked. I could not wrap my head around the idea that getting fit meant having to completely change my lifestyle and the way that I think about food. It wasn't until January 2014 when I attended my first class at The 12 that I started to make a big change. I weighed in then at 205lbs, began attending classes every day, and taking in all the advice I could get on nutrition. Fast forward four months and I had dropped from 30% body fat to 13.5%.

I will always attribute my success in fitness to the community that surrounded me with nothing but positive reinforcement and encouragement. At The 12, I found working out had become fun for the first time ever. Community is everything, you have to surround yourself with people who have similar goals, and individuals who are going to help and encourage you along the way. This aspect was probably the biggest lifestyle change I made- I owe so much to my fitfam who stood by me when I needed it the most.

Since my initial drop I have not only used the momentum to continue training hard day in and day out, building muscle and developing the aesthetics I want, but also to help motivate and inspire others to do the same. Now, as an NASM- Certified Personal Trainer and a specialist in Fitness Nutrition though ISSA, I’m following my newly discovered purpose- helping my clients and The 12 community get healthy, the right way, while developing the body of their dreams.” -Chad Buettner, 12Nation Member and Personal Trainer at The 12

November is Earn Free Workouts Month!

FACEBOOK Contest
-Must tag either The12-Costa Mesa or The12-Irvine + LIKE Page-
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