Well, another year, and yet another crazy Vegas adventure is in the books. However, despite all the days of insane clubbing from dusk till dawn and pigging out at the buffets and steakhouses, I made it out with nary a scratch, without gaining a single ounce of fat, and above all, not losing any muscle mass.
It makes me chuckle a bit when I hear people talking about having to diet hard after returning home from Vegas. If you play your cards right (no pun intended), there really is no need to gamble with your health, and risk compromising that slim, pool party physique you've been working so hard the past few months for.
All you need to do is follow these three simple rules before, during, and after your trip:
1. No breakfast.
2. Work out first thing in the morning.
3. 8 hour eating window.
Easy as that! Now let's break them on down:
1. No "breakfast" is a very easy rule to follow, especially when you are on vacation. This rule can also easily be applied at home as well. Don't buy into the age old saying conjured up by the marketing staff at General Mills that breakfast is the most important meal of the day.
Have you ever gotten up still feeling stuffed from last night's dinner, yet still scarfed something down (and felt like crap afterwards) only because it's what you were taught to do? On the flip side, have you ever accidentally skipped breakfast and even lunch during a super busy day at work, and actually felt not only less sleepy, but even more energized? Yes, since the blood that would normally have been gushing to your stomach to digest excess food instead remains in your head, you end up feeling much less woozy, and free from the dreaded "food coma."
Of course, if you want to get technical, no one ever really skips breakfast, since your first meal of the day - regardless of whether it's morning, afternoon, or evening - is when you "break the fast." However, for all intents and purposes, I am just going by the most common usage.
Oh, and if you are one of those who thinks that by not eating every three hours, you will lose muscle mass, you have nothing to worry about.
2. Every morning, when I first woke up, I didn't even bother with the gym at the Palazzo, nice as it may be. I just basically did a 10 minute continuous circuit of burpees, push ups, squats, pistols, handstands, running in place, jumpstyle, and various other calisthenics exercises right in the hotel room. This is the same workout I mentioned in a post from a few weeks ago. It also saves you precious time from having to go all the way downstairs. Time is of the essence when you are on vacation! Don't squander it all working out. In addition, when in Vegas, you are bound to do a lot of walking throughout the course of the day (in the baking sun no less during the summer months), so this will also help.
3. Obviously, in Vegas, one of the main attractions is the plethora of culinary delights. To forbid yourself from such pleasure would be a tall order for even the most disciplined of eaters. However, no one said that you have to torture yourself. As mentioned earlier, the only thing you need to do is skip your morning meal. For the rest of the day, just make sure all your caloric intake takes place within an 8 hour time frame. This falls withing the parameters of the popular Lean Gains plan, but with slightly more flexibility.
So, if you "break the fast" at 2 pm, that means you have until 10 pm to finish your last meal of the day. While this doesn't necessarily give you permission to pig out for the entire duration, you can certainly feel less guilty if you happen to give in to a confection or two. Just make sure to avoid those 3 am binges at the Peppermill after a raucous night at Marquee.
See, not so hard after all, is it? Now, all you need to do is follow these rules on a daily basis, and you will easily maintain your Vegas pool party physique year round.
