Do Christmas Calories Actually Count? (The Truth)

Welcome to the show that punches you in the face with information. Welcome to the Enterprise Fitness Podcast. In this episode, we are going to be talking— this is our Christmas edition— we're going to be talking about surviving the silly season, strategies over Christmas to keep you on track and in shape. Today I am joined by Ari Otis, one of our fantastic senior coaches. How are you today, Ari?

Not too bad. Howdy, everybody.

Howdy. So, uh, Christmas, huh? Christmas, special time of the year.

That's what they say.

It is what they say. Um, I love Christmas mainly because I love food. What foods do you like?

Lamb.

Yeah, he's the Greek.

Lamb, lamb, and more. You know what the funny thing about lamb is, is the stereotype— yeah, that, but the stereotype that Greeks love lamb and have a lot of lamb. But the thing is, in Greece it's actually quite rare. It's a delicacy because it's very expensive and it's actually very hard to raise sheep there. If you go to Greece, it's chicken or pork at 90% of places you go. There's not a lot of beef, there's not a lot of lamb.

Why is there so much lamb in the Greek communities here? No idea, because I don't know a lot of Greeks.

Yes, and that's lamb on the spit.

It's lamb on the spit.

Look, I'm all happy for the fact that lamb's more accessible here because it's delicious, but why it's more of a thing here, I'm not sure. Probably just stole it from the Aussies.

But Aussies don't really have that much lamb.

But I think so, yeah.

Well, that's more like—

I don't have shrimp on the barbie. I don't know how that became a stereotype. I've never— have you ever actually seen a shrimp on the barbecue? Uh, not—

yes, yeah, but very rarely. Correct, very rarely. It's not, it's not common practice. What's common is sausages. Yes, yes, because obviously it's hot in Australia. We don't have white Christmases like in the US or Canada. Uh, but yeah, no, I, I get that. So Christmas for you at the Otis household is lamb?

Is food, food, and more food, and just, yeah, food and family. Nothing out of the ordinary. It's just a perfect time of the year to wrap everything up, bring everyone together. My brother's birthday is actually on Boxing Day, so it's like we'll often take the opportunity to go up to his house in the country and, uh, cook one of his animals. No, I'm kidding, I'm kidding. But no, we'll often put together a good feast and Yeah, have a jolly old time.

Now, you know, we have a lot of clients here at Enterprise, and you obviously train a lot of those clients and you advise them. And, you know, I, I remember when I was hardcore coaching, a lot of clients would kind of freak out over Christmas sometimes, you know, am I going to undo my results? Am I— can I enjoy? How do you go about coaching clients over Christmas?

Look, it's a great question, and it's one we're gonna, we're gonna get all the time, and it's one that a lot of people will stress about. The simple advice I'll give is life's short. Christmas is a valuable time for a lot of people to get together with family that they often won't see throughout the year. And yeah, enjoy family and enjoy food. And the simple, the simple thing I'll say to a lot of people is, look, though, people will obsess a lot about that one week running over, say, Christmas and the New Year, and feel like they have to be extremely dialed in over that one week, as if it's going to be the, the prime determinant of progress over a sustained period of time. And what I say to that is, don't obsess over the one week of the year where you get to see your family that you haven't seen for a long time and enjoy foods that you haven't enjoyed for a long time. Stress about the other 51 weeks of the year where you're going to have a lot more control and a lot more routine, and that's what's going to result in long-term success and progress towards your goals. So the simple answer I'll give is enjoy it. Don't be an idiot, but enjoy it.

And I think it's sometimes hard for people with the mindset of all or none. That's what I think actually is probably the most damaging thing over Christmas, is that people approach Christmas with the all-or-none mindset. It's, I'm, I'm gonna wait till December— or December— January 1st, where I'm gonna clean up my whole act and I'm gonna eat like as much as possible from the time Christmas starts to the time Christmas, you know, quote unquote ends. And the problem with that is the all-or-none mindset is it usually gives you none, not all, and all gives you all the negative and none of the benefit. And people really go backwards. I think it was a stat like the average person was only 2 or 3 kilos over Christmas and just continues to compound because the eating behavior has just become so poor. And I think that the message there is you don't, you don't need to approach Christmas as all or none. You don't need to eat until you feel sick because that's not It's not healthy. I mean, but you certainly don't— you certainly don't have to deprive yourself of food either. Like, it's not saying— there is a, there is a balance there. Yes, you're going to eat more in foods that you— um, I think for— in that, I know there's a lot of people in the bodybuilding world, and certainly over the years that I've seen they are very aware as a badge of honor, you know, I didn't, I didn't eat anything off-plan Christmas. And I think what I'd like to kind of point out and say to that is that one of our fundamental ways as humans that, you know, for centuries has been to connect over food. So meaning if I want to build a relationship with you, I'll bring food literally to the table as you will bring food to the table, and we will enjoy each other's company, you in this means of exchange, almost currency of this is my food, this is your— now we're, we've become, uh, a community in a sense.

Try organizing plans with someone when you can't, uh, make food a part of it. It suddenly becomes a whole lot harder.

Yes, and it, it, it, I think it's inherent. And that's what the thing where I think the bodybuilding or the body conscious people, you know, when we talk about a holistic person and having this you know, helicopter view as the person entering these things. When you take that away, there's a psychosomatic component, there's the emotional component that you also strip away, and people become this kind of, uh, vehicle of just matter without any meaning and purpose. And that's why I think in many regards with people's fitness and stuff, they can end up feeling very burnt out and very jaded to the whole process, because it does feel like deprivation. Because it's not the deprivation of the food itself that they're, they're not eating, or choosing to not eat, it's the deprivation of the emotional connectivity to the tribe and that, that, that innate of being part of something. I don't think— well, I don't think it's ever going to go away in anyone. I think people do want to be connected. There is no one who's an island.

So sorry, I think— yeah, I think just practicing self-awareness is going to be one of the best things you can do, and understanding what your values are, whether you're someone who works a 9-to-5 job or whether you are competing to be an IFBB bodybuilder. Right, if you, if you can make— to speak against it, but if you're someone that perhaps values the community aspect of bonding with, say, family and friends over food and you know that you can enjoy that over a short period of time, i.e., Christmas and New Year's, and still make sustainable progress towards your goals, or maintain perhaps what you already have achieved, then go for gold. I think it's just, yeah, being self-aware and understanding what your values are. I think anyone who takes the time to learn that about themselves is just gonna have a lot less stress in their day-to-day life because it just makes a very easy to make decisions, and it becomes very binary. Is it— does this align with my core values? Yes or no?

And yeah, I'll give you some practical things that I, I've done, um, over this period that keep me on track. And one of them is planning. You know, if there are a lot of functions, which I think a lot of people do have— they have a lot of functions in a row— and it can become— every function is an opportunity to drink as much as you can and also eat as much as you can. For me personally, I don't like feeling uncomfortably full. I don't like feeling sick. And really, the only day that I probably do that is Christmas Day, where I'm like, yeah, I can feel uncomfortably full today because I know I'm not doing anything today and I'm not doing anything probably tomorrow either. So if I want to eat, then that's, that's fine.

I can feel that uncomfortable, like, you know, just, yeah, I'm not going to make my Aya sad by saying no to her food.

Yeah. So, but in saying that, I think one of the practical things you can do is decide before you go to these functions which are the functions that you're going to indulge at and which functions where you're going to say, actually, I'm not drinking tonight, or, you know, oh yeah, I'm not, not gonna eat, I'm gonna eat before I go, or whatever it is. You can have that foresight and choosing those functions. If, you know, if you have a week, and some people do, they have every day, uh, they've got a lot of work commitments, family commitments, different families where they go to multiple things, and there are opportunities to, to definitely overindulge and get right off plan. And if they, they haven't made that commitment, choose, set a plan before you go. One of the other practical things I always say is eat your protein first. So most Christmas dinners, they'll have, unless you're vegan, vegetarian, which is a whole different story, you know, there's probably actually healthier options and less calories in those options. So it's in some ways easier to navigate, but choosing the protein first and getting that as your main fill. And what you do often find is that having that as your main fill will satiate your appetite for, you know, overindulging in, let's say, the foods that are more refined and easier to eat, easy to consume and overdo. So by getting the protein fill, you're also able to stabilize blood glucose levels and also have to say that, that satiation point. And then from there, it's, it's choosing your desserts. And I think one of the things, you know, your taste buds, you can definitely be overwhelmed at Christmas time with taste. And you know, there's a stomach for the meat, there's a stomach for the potatoes, and there's a stomach for all the desserts.

There's 3 stomachs for every dessert, every Greek dessert at Christmas, let me tell you now.

And it can always be a little bit overwhelming. And for me, one of the things is I like to enjoy the taste of— I don't like to mix the desserts because then they all taste like it's almost overwhelming. It's one of the things that I do is every time I get up, I get one dessert so I can enjoy that one thing. And then if I want the other thing, I'll put that on its own plate so I can savor rather than putting a whole plate of all those things. What about you?

What do you think my strategies, my personal kind of Yeah, look, I'd be lying if I said it was that easy to have the discipline to limit myself from having every single Greek dessert that's put in front of me at Christmas. But yeah, it makes sense, you know, consuming your protein is just something that's fundamental across, you know, in and out of Christmas. And your body's also going to burn a lot more energy breaking down your protein as well, so it's even just going to play a small part in just increasing your energy expenditure and the collateral effect that it has in terms of reducing your overall calorie intake. And it's— that's something that's going to be readily accessible to people over a Christmas period, whether it is the lamb or whether it is the, the Christmas ham or the, or the turkey and whatnot. It's still easier than a lot of people think to adhere to the same general framework that we'll prescribe to people when they come in here, and that's understand look for your proteins, your vegetables in everything that you eat. And yeah, it's just focusing on the fundamentals. It doesn't— the behaviors don't change too much.

I interrupt this podcast to give you a very special message. December, we are running an Elite Results Bootcamp. What is the Elite Results Bootcamp? It is a 3-day bootcamp where we teach our systems around strength, hypertrophy, and fat loss. It is intense. There are 6 workouts over the 3 days, and our trainers not only spill the beans on all the techniques, methods, systems that we use to get next level results, we take you through actual workouts so you can experience in real time. If you're a client, if you're someone who's interested in Enterprise Fitness, or if you're a trainer looking to level up, check out our course Enterprise Fitness Academy and click on Elite Results. It's funny how you see this discipline though. For me, it's not— doesn't feel like discipline, just feels like something that I do because I just don't like the feeling of being uncomfortably full. Um, and I think because it's, it's just, oh, I've done it so many times, if that makes sense, and I've paid for it the next day. And like, oh, this is, this isn't comfortable. It's very easy because there's linked pain. To that, and I don't want to feel that way.

Yeah, well, it's usually a bit too late for, for some people. It's— you've eaten some things and then, and then, and then you hate yourself after.

But well, it's not even hating myself, it's just like physical pain. Like, I can't do anything and I feel slow.

And it's worth it for a lot of people. It's the things we do for what we love.

Are you a drinker over Christmas?

Can't say I am, but I've got a couple of the Collingwood Premiers Carlton draft slabs at home. And no, I'm not a beer drinker, but that is the one thing I will make an exception for.

Because it's Collingwood?

Because it's Collingwood.

Wow. Put a Collingwood sticker on anything and you'll pretty much buy it. Yeah, toilet paper.

Um, no, I think pretty sure they only have it in Carlton brands, so boom, got them. But yes, it's the only exception I'm gonna make for drinking.

You like to set you up for that joke.

Yes, and I'm glad you did. Um, yeah, Tyrone was here.

He loves Carlton. He's a Carlton supporter.

He does love Carlton.

Yeah. No, I can't say I'm much of a drinker really, uh, especially over Christmas. I like to enjoy the food aspect more so than the drink aspect. What's on the menu for Christmas?

What's on the menu for Christmas? A lot of what I've said already. Um, lots of meat.

What are these Greek desserts you speak of? Oh, we're pastry-based, right?

Or mostly pastry. We've got—

we've got What's that?

Uh, that's like, it's like a very sweet custardy filling and then with sandwiched by a bit of light pastry with some honey glazed over.

Crustoli.

What's that?

That's Italian. Uh, crustoli is, well, there's nagatoli and crustoli, which are basically the, the same thing. And I think you call them profiteroles. No, what's the ones that, that, uh, nagatoli, the ones with the custard and the, they wrap the pastry and there's like custard on each side.

That just sounds like cannolis.

Cannoli, yes. Is that what the other one that you have—

oh, I mean, it's got custard, but nah, it's more like a— almost like a pie pastry type thing. Then we've got baklava. Look, the thing about Greek desserts is that basically like all the Balkan countries have the same desserts and they just have different names.

What's that one? It's like walnuts Ghazli is like, uh, fried pastry. It's like deep fried pastry.

I've probably got Greeks screaming at me through the, through the camera right now because there's probably a lot— there's a lot that I'm forgetting, and that's because I'm not a massive sweet tooth. But then once they are put in front of me, it's like, oh Hello, old friend, haven't seen you since last Christmas. And then, um, in they go. But, uh, otherwise, lots of meat, lots of salad, and yeah, whatever Yaya puts in front of me, because, um, it's just, it's just rude of me to say no. Um, I like how we touched on alcohol as well though, because I think what we spoke about ties into that well, when people will stress a lot about the alcohol consumption over Christmas and New Year's as well. And I think this extends to any, any instance in which someone is drinking alcohol. When, when a client comes in and, and asks, what do I do regarding drinking alcohol? And I think if it's— if you're someone that's drinking lots of alcohol and you're going out and getting slammed most nights, the— what I will start with is narrowing, confining the window of non-compliance to that occasion in itself. So if you can promise me, I'll say that you're back on track the next day after you've had a big Christmas, or if you've had a big night out, that's the first thing we can start with. Because what happens when you have a massive night out? Yeah, you wake up, you feel terrible, you're hungover, you go grab that greasy hangover feed, you do 2,000 steps in that day because you're basically bedridden all day, you're super dehydrated. So it's that collateral effect that's almost just as bad, if not worse, than the actual occasion of having a couple of drinks itself that I think sets a lot of people off.

What do you think your clients will struggle with the most over Christmas?

I think, well, hopefully not too much because they've heeded my advice.

All right, new clients. What do you think new clients coming?

So I think it's just going to be the general, the general aspect of high calorie consumption. I think. And perhaps— I think— no, good, good question, because I think the answer is yes, people are going to eat more, but is that also going to come at the expense of energy expenditure and activity as well? I think there's no reason why people shouldn't still be either training, or at the very least, say, getting their steps in over Christmas. I think just being generally active throughout the day isn't something that should yeah, come at the expense of enjoying Christmas. So I think that's something that, that people can do.

Energy— say that again. The energy expenditure should be—

the energy expenditure should be equally as high as what it was. So, you know, not stopping training, or at least just focusing on what you can do, just staying active in any way you can.

Yeah, it used to be, before I had kids, used to be pretty ritual that I would get up super early Christmas morning, train, and then just eat as much as I possibly could Christmas Day. As recovery. And the workout was usually like at least 2 hours long, at least Christmas morning at least 2 hours long. And it was great. And I'd usually do some super heavy or high volume workout and, uh, just feel the gains the whole Christmas Day. And I'll justify the fact that I could eat more because I trained so hard.

I would just want to know what that, what that Boxing Day pump was like after eating everything.

Oh, amazing. It was massive. I bet it is. Is, you know, you just go in, everything would just explode, just feel. But I do it on Christmas Day and then I'll do it again on Boxing Day.

Oh. All the carbs at the ready, just energy to burn.

It was amazing. Veins everywhere.

Yeah, that's the advice I'd give. Go, go to the gym on Boxing Day and get a sick pump.

There you go. And if you, if you're childless, consider going to the gym on, uh, on, on Christmas Day as well. But most people—

and if you do have children, show off your pump. Yeah, now we're too early.

Kids, kids waking up. Let's, uh, let's, let's, let's open the presents. Usually at 5 AM, 6 AM. Get up. And at least, you know, the good thing about Christmas is that, you know, you can eat and have all the time in the world to do these things.

This is true.

Yeah. So, um, all right, well, any other advice, final thoughts for clients, or you're pretty much wrapped up into one?

Enjoy Christmas. It's perhaps, like I said, for a lot of people, the one time of the year where you get to see people, see different people, and eat different foods. So enjoy it, don't beat yourself up over it, still make the best choices you can make in the scenarios that are provided. Don't forget what you've learned and maintain as many good habits as possible.

And if you were Santa, let's just say you were Santa or Rudolph, what present would you give people this Christmas?

Gains. Just get it, just, just get some protein in the, in the stocking bag.

So everyone's not getting coal this year, you're getting Well, what?

No, I don't think coal is very good.

Yeah, well, you know, it's like if you're, if you're naughty, you get coal, and if you're nice— so if you're nice, you're giving everyone a protein.

Sure.

Is it chicken, fish, steak, protein powder, all the above? That would go on.

That would go off. No, the lamb's for me. Lamb's for me.

Santa keeps his lamb and you're going to give everyone protein powder.

Yeah, something like that.

Come get your protein powder at Enterprise Fitness. True Protein now on sale.

Yeah, I'll be here dressed as Santa.

Yeah, so, uh, Santa Ari, hope to see you in a Santa outfit soon PTing your clients.

Yep, just you wait.

So, uh, yeah, what I'd be giving everyone this year is discipline.

No, uh, sounds about right. Yeah, physical discipline. Physical discipline to all the naughty kids.

Yeah, all the naughty kids, you need discipline. And, uh, you need to journal. You all get journals and you need to journal and reflect your thoughts. It's actually a really good gift. It's going to enforce it with discipline, make everyone journal and do self-reflection and reflect on the year ahead, which is a great time to do. No, but, uh, from, from everyone here at Enterprise Fitness, what I want to say is thank you for supporting us. Thank you for being clients. Thank you for watching our podcast, supporting us over the year. We hope, the whole team, we all hope that you have an amazing Christmas. Don't stress too much. If you eat a little bit more, that's why we're here. To get you on track, back on track, to burn those calories, to make 2024 the best year ever for you. And enjoy. I mean, you, as Ari said before, I think really you only get one Christmas, and it's not that one day or that one week that's going to make or break you. And if you do go into it with a relaxed attitude, and you know, if you are kind of obsessive about it, plan, you know, but plan to enjoy. And then ask yourself the question, what does enjoyment look like? So If you enjoy this podcast, make sure you hit subscribe. Ari, where can people hear more about you?

Y'all can hear— you, you guys can find me at Enterprise or at Instagram under coach.ario.

And my name is Mark Ottobre. You can follow me at Mark Ottobre. And as I said before, train hard, eat well, supplement smart, and subscribe.

Merry Christmas.

Oh, hi there! I hope you enjoyed the podcast. While I've still got you, why not check out our book, www.enterprisediet.com, today and grab your copy?