How To Stay on Track During the Holidaze
We are quickly approaching that time of year - the time between December 1 and New Year's Day that we call the holidaze. It’s when everything happens all at once. Schedules ramp up, party invites come in full force, and there's decorating and shopping, cookies to bake, and cards to mail out. It gets to be a lot. It’s also that time of the year when it's tempting to fall back on that “I’ll start over in the new year” excuse, and you throw everything but the kitchen sink into your body but are too busy to work out.
Trust us - we’ve all been there. But that mentality can wreak havoc on your health and undo 11 months of hard work. Yes – you can undo 11 months of your hard work and dedication in one month.
According to a survey by OnePoll, which surveyed 2,000 Americans, the average American expects to gain eight pounds between Thanksgiving and the New Year. Furthermore, 64 percent of respondents say they will delay attempts to get healthy until after the New Year. Enter Edington Family Fitness. Use our virtual fitness and online workouts to stop this backward slide, and check out the following tips to stay on track this holiday season.
Fitness Tips
Make a Weekly Fitness Plan
Break the month down into seven days at a time and make a plan for each day. Include the fun you want to have, the parties you plan to attend, the family time you plan to spend, and add in online workouts or gym time. You’re much less likely to overindulge if you know you have a workout planned the next day.
Stick to Your Fitness Goals
If your goal throughout the year is to work out five times a week, then make that your goal during the holiday season too. Just because things get a little hectic doesn’t mean you can give up on fitness. And remember that once training goes out the window, nutrition does too. If anything, push to keep moving throughout the season and utilize tools like virtual fitness and online workouts when you're short on time.
Aim To Maintain
While most of us aim to improve our fitness throughout the year, the time between Thanksgiving Day and New Year's Day brings a different set of challenges, temptations, and time constraints. Instead of focusing on improvements in the gym and beating yourself up when they don’t happen, aim to maintain. A maintained fitness level is definitely something to celebrate this time of year when so many people slide backward.
Workout Wherever You Are
Are you traveling for the holidays? Don’t let that be an excuse not to get moving. Instead, use online workouts like Edington Family Fitness to get moving anywhere, anytime – even in your childhood bedroom of your parent’s house on Christmas Eve.
Make Family Fitness a Tradition
A lot of family traditions around this time of year focus on food. Change that habit and start a new family fitness tradition this year. Instead of sitting around grazing on leftovers after a big holiday meal, bundle up and go for a walk as a family to see the holiday lights in your neighborhood.
Nutrition Tips
Make Healthy Contributions
Are you part of the holiday potluck at work or heading to a holiday party? Take control of what you consume by bringing a healthy dish to contribute. Knowing there is a healthy option will give you no excuse not to eat healthy.
Plan Indulgences
Of course, you will indulge a little bit this holiday season, and that’s okay. The key is not to overindulge. To avoid going headfirst into an entire bottle of wine, set a limit of two glasses before you head out the door. The same goes for food. Decide ahead of time on one thing you will indulge in at the family get-together. That way, you can enjoy something like your mom's famous pumpkin pie without guilt. Eat it slowly and savor it. You’ll end up feeling satisfied without going overboard.
Eat Before the Party
Sounds counterintuitive, right? Wouldn’t you want to bank calories so you can indulge later? Nope. It's better to have a snack or small meal before walking into a tempting situation so you don’t feel ravenous and ready to eat everything in sight. Walking in and not feeling hungry will allow you to think through your temptations and pick a healthy option or just one indulgence instead of sampling the whole dessert table.
Hydrate
By now, we all know how important it is to stay hydrated. It's even more important during the crazy holiday season. It will help you flush the toxins from your system and keep you feeling your best. According to the Cleveland Clinic, that means for men around 3.7 liters and women around 2.7 liters. And if you plan to have an adult beverage at your next holiday party, plan to have a glass of water in between cocktails to stay hydrated.
Drop the Guilt
While you might not be dropping pounds this holiday season, you can drop the guilt. Guilt around food and fitness is just unnecessary. Everyone gets off track. Everyone struggles at some point with a consistent fitness routine and healthy eating habits. Stop beating yourself up for a slip-up, lace up those gym shoes, and move on with one of our virtual fitness classes.
Edington Family Fitness programming provides an efficient total body workout through functional virtual fitness that combines strength development and high-intensity intervals. Coach Shellie is a professional athlete and certified trainer with a passion for helping people become the best version of themselves. Edington Family Fitness delivers online workouts to you and the whole family that can be done anywhere.