QUIT NOW, GAIN LATER
Tumbling off the fitness wagon needn’t mean your goals get flattened. Just learn to rest assured
Why pausing your gym routine needn’t mean fast-forwarding the festive spread
If your icalendar for 2017 already looks more like a gym timetable, you’re not alone. While a third of us earnestly pledge to get fitter every new year, long nights and work catch-up undermine our best intentions. We get it – we’re not about to bore you with a lecture on willpower. What we will say, however, is that taking a few weeks off is no bad thing.
For a study published in the journal Sports Medicine, regular gym-goers adopted sedentary habits for four weeks. Scientists call it ‘detraining’ – we’ll refer to it as ‘February burnout’. However, contrary to expectation, subjects experienced minimal strength losses and even saw a short-term boost in testosterone. Though more commonly associated with vascular bros, this hormone is also crucial to healthy fat-burning. What ‘squat til you drop’-style memes won’t tell you is that overtraining can bring about spikes in cortisol, which actually counteract testosterone and break down muscle mass... Only that doesn’t look so good emblazoned over an arty shot of six oiled-up abs. So next time you flake on the gym two weeks in a row, resist the urge to throw in the sweat-towel until next year. Just give yourself a break – and get back on it before the month is up. See you there.
Pop the baked potato in a bowl then crack in a couple of eggs and mash it all together. Add the almond milk, almond flour, cacao powder, baking soda and chia seeds, then give it a whisk. Heat a non-stick frying pan with a knob of coconut oil. You only need a bit, but don’t be tempted to do without – it’ll help fry your mouth-watering slabs. If your batter looks thin, add more flour. Pour in enough batter to fill the pan and cook until the top starts to bubble. Run a spatula around the edges, then use it to flip the pancake over until both sides are golden. Feeling bold? Try a toss. Repeat this process until you have a stackable tower then serve with fresh blueberries, crushed nuts and the sauce – simply mix the peanut butter with hot water. Be generous.