Ah, the air is cold (or is it?), houses decorated, merriment and joy is in the air, and you're scurrying around trying to find the perfect gift for your friends, family, and loved ones...That's right it's CHRISTMAS TIME AGAIN!

This is probably my favorite week of the year. I'm a sap for the music, movies, little kids, and gift giving (hey, I don't remind receiving either ). It’s also the time for our little friend FAT to accumulate. Yep, here in northwest it seems that we'll be having more fat accumulation than snow accumulation this year .

With all the Christmas parties, dinners, gatherings, get together’, New Years parties cookies, deserts, it's no wonder our abs go into hibernation during November, December, and January (as well as the months that follow). Many of us associate joy, good times, holidays, and family with food. This leads to even more gluttony. Why is that? It only leads to health problems and unsightly fat gains.

Well, basically we have reprogrammed our body's (as a society) to associate food with pleasure, instead of food as FUEL. Food releases many hormones including dopamine, leptin, and many others classified as endorphins. Dopamine is the same hormone the body releases when a drug addict gets their fix. It makes them feel good again. Eating food, especially high fat foods, releases dopamine. Endorphins are pleasure-creating hormones and also pain relieving hormones. The release of endorphins makes us feel GOOD! When we overeat we get a nice surge of dopamine, leptin (the obese gene), and other endorphins. All of these make us feel GOOOOOOD.

Then to boot...we have always associated a good time with bad foods since we were children. Think about it.

1. Many of us spent time with family and friends during dinner (creating a safe and comfortable environment).

2. As children we loved our birthdays. What did we eat? Cake, ice cream, cookies.

3. Holidays are always centered around bad foods (New Years, Memorial Day, 4th of July, Labor Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas). These holidays are spent with people we love creating joy and a comfortable environment.

These things help us revert back to a time when life was easier, more manageable, and for some more enjoyable – our childhood!

Add the above three factors up and you've got a nice little cocktail for CLASSICAL CONDITIONING people (that's right I said it! Pavlov was right all along!

So...how do we avoid the weight gain during the holidays? Easy, and just to let you know, I'm not advocating shunning all good foods during the holidays. That's a recipe for failure and misery, even for the most seasoned and disciplined bodybuilders! The answer is in moderation and preparation! Follow the following advice to assist you in limiting fat accumulation during the holiday and winter months!

If you are like me you have 5 parties over the holiday. Choose 2, maybe 3, that you want to really enjoy and let yourself eat foods that you enjoy on those days or at those parties. Obviously, you won’t be able to go completely overboard, but you’ll be able to enjoy family, friends, good times, and GOOD FOODS! Here's the kicker...a little trick us bodybuilders call CARB DEPLETION! That's right, follow this simple little steps to avoid gaining 2-10 pounds of body fat!

• 1) 2-3 days before your Christmas party (or New Years party/office gathering) begin a carb deplete. Eat 0-50 carbs during these 2-3 days. The carbs should either be eaten w/ meals 1 & 2 or post workout. For your meals, you will need to keep your carbohydrates from clean sources such as brown rice, sweet potatoes, and oatmeal. Post workout can be taken from the same sources, or you can use faster digesting carbohydrates found in white rice, white bread, or rice cakes.
• 2) Perform 30-60 minutes of cardio first thing in the morning for these 2-3 days.
• 3) Perform a deplete workout each of the 2-3 days: To do this, split the body into 2 large groups (Chest/Shoulders/Triceps & Legs/Back/Biceps) and perform 1-2 exercises at 2 sets for 12-15 reps over a 2 day period!
• 4) The morning of your event, perform 30 minutes of High Intensity Cardio
• 5) Enjoy and let the nasty foods of the holiday season replenish glycogen, release dopamine, endorphins and replenish leptin levels. If you can, try to limit HIGH FAT FOODS! Foods high in sugar and lower in fat will replenish glycogen better. Also, try to have 20-30 grams of lean protein ever 3.5-4 hours throughout the day.
• 6) The day(s) after you Christmas party, begin your normal training and training split w/ 20-min cardio post workout (for a week) & keep your carbs to .5 grams per pound of body weight (1/2 of those coming post workout - 1/4 with meals 1 & 2). Be sure to utilize the same low glycemic, complex carbs listed above.
• 7) After 3-7 days (depending on whether your an ecto, meso, or endo) return to your normal diet/training protocol!

The last step in keeping fat loss to a minimum is utilizing the right supplements to aid in proper digestion, carbohydrate storage, and to decrease fat storage. There is a plethora of supplements and strategies you can use to assist you throughout the holiday season.

Appetite Suppressants

One way to avoid the fat gain is to not eat the bad foods. FAT CHANCE you might say (no pun intended)! Well the following are a list of supplements that may assist you in curbing your appetite:

1. Dietex by VPX (contains Hoodia – an herbal, and proven appetite suppressor)

2. Torcht by Nutraligix Laboratories (fat burner containing appetite suppressants and metabolic stimulators)

3. Lipodrene (Fat burner/appetite suppressant)

Nutrient Partitioning

Another way to decrease fat storage is to insure proper shuttling and storage of nutrients. The following supplements will aid your body in using insulin properly and storing carbohydrates as muscle glycogen instead of fat!

1. Alpha Lipoic Acid (ALA, Loaded, Glucophase)

2. L-Tyrosine

Mood Enhancers

Lastly, by enhancing our overall mood, we can control the levels of leptin, dopamine, and other endorphins making it easier to enjoy ourselves, relax, feel good, and avoid eating for the sole purpose of “pleasure.” The following supplements can help with mood.

1. GABA

2. Psychotropin (ErgoPharm)

3. Yellow nEuphoria (Controlled Labs)