According to Psychology Today, we do not gain nearly as much weight as we think we do during the holiday season:

“What they found is that people thought they were gaining four times as much as they actually had gained! Fewer than 10% of their sample actually gained over five pounds. Most had gained less than a pound. But those who were overweight or obese initially were the ones most likely to gain those five or more pounds, so their conclusion was that the holiday season “may present special risks” for those who do already have a weight problem. Furthermore, the researchers found that even though the average weight gain was fairly minimal, people tended to gain the most weight for the year around this time and not lose this holiday weight once the holidays were over. The result is a “cumulative” gain, or what we might call a kind of “holiday creep.” In other words, even though for many, the actual weight gain this time of year is trivial, it may not be trivial over time.”

Source: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-gravity-weight/201011/the-holiday-creep-seasonal-weight-gain

So regardless of what camp you fall in, my philosophy has always been to amp up your workout just as much as you amp up your eating habits during the holiday season. I’ve found that people not only eat more on purpose, but they also intentionally workout less and say, “I’ll start or resume working out when the holidays are over.” This of course leads to the old New Year’s lose weight resolution and we all know how that goes.

So to help myself out, I’m going to post what I’m doing in the gym this holiday season. This will certainly assist me in keeping my own diet in check, but I hope it will also assist you in some way as well. Over the last few months, I’ve really been a bit of a Brooks Kubik fan, and his writings have persuaded me to do what I’ve never really done since the old Muscle Media 2000 Shawn Phillips Bench Press program days and that’s minimize everything to maximize getting stronger. Longer story short (for this post, but I’ll go into more later), I’ve made the best gains in the last 2-3 months than I have in years!

But more on that later…

So what did I do today?

Weight: (Gym scale – 215 lbs)

Diet: Thanksgiving with all the trimmings and desert, so I probably took in about 4,000 kcals today!

But I hope I earned the food:

11/28/2013 – 8 Hrs. of Sleep! Weight: 215	Set	Reps	Weight
Rack Deadlifts	1	10	135
	2	5	225
	3	5	275
	4	3	315
	5	2	365
	6	1	405
	7	1	495
	8	1	520
	9	1	545
	10	1	565
	11	1	565
	12	3	565
Barbell Curls	1	4	85
	2	3	115
	3	4	115
	4	3	120
Triceps DB Seated Extensions	1	5	85
	2	5	85

Set 12 in the most important exercise was a new PR!

Rack DLs – Lower back felt great and I felt extremely strong this morning.

Barbell Curls – I think I’m beginning to stall as in the past I was doing 5 reps for a few sets. It’ll get pulled next phase.

Tri Ext – Elbows still sore and are not recovering fast enough with heavy dips. Again, I’ll substitute this exercise next phase.

CSD