December is here! It’s officially holiday time. The hustle and bustle of getting things ready for the holidays can easily overtake your fitness goals
My question is… are you ready?
75% of people gain weight aka fat during the holidays. It becomes so easy between pumpkin spice lattes, holiday parties with alcohol, apple pies, and the many delicious foods you’re exposed to it’s easy to get off track.
It’s also easy to put off your workouts. You’ve got to go shopping today or you’ve got to clean the house to get ready for the party. Putting your fitness on the back burner is simple to do, and the price to pay is very expensive for your health.
Combine that with all the stress and travel the holiday season brings and you’ve got a recipe that goes straight to the gut.
So I’m writing this blog to help you get ready for the holidays with some simple tips.
1) Set your morning up for success
It’s so easy to jump out of bed and immediately begin your chores and to do list, but I’m saying do two things that will take you 15 minutes tops that will help you survive the holidays.
Wake up 15 minutes early and start your day with 5 minutes of mindfulness. Literally sit in a dimly lit room and focus on your breathing. Set a 5 minute timer if you need to. Breath in and out deeply and if you start to think about something acknowledge the thought and then go back to focusing on your breathing. 5 minutes doesn’t sound like a lot but studies have shown that this will significantly reduce your stress levels and stress hormones. That’ll help you handle the holidays better and keep you from packing on weight.
For the remaining 10 minutes before you eat or drink coffee or anything plan to move for 1o minutes. I’m talking body weight stuff for example 5 burpees and 10 squats alternating back and forth for 10 minutes. Or Push ups to failure, squats to failure alternating back and forth for 10 minutes. Use body weight and do something that uses a lot of muscle groups.
If you have a kettlebell at home doing something like 100 swings or 30 seconds of swings 30 seconds rest for 10 minutes will do a ton for your metabolism and will help you be successful.
2) Set a workout date in your calendar with yourself
Put 2-3 real workout times in your calendar and schedule them as weekly meetings. Plan your week around those meetings. The most important thing you can do this holiday season is to take care of yourself, so you are setting a meeting with the most important person each week… you!
3) Try to push crappy food towards the weekend
I know you’re busy, but if you can eat pretty healthy throughout the week don’t stress about going overboard a little on the weekend. 5 days of eating healthy and two of doing bad won’t negatively impact you too bad.
4) Limit alcohol to one time a week
Alcohol, even wine, wreaks havoc on your system so planning out in advance when you’re going to drink it will help mitigate the negative response.
5) Eat something healthy before you go to a party
If you eat something healthy before hand it’ll keep you from over indulging too much at the party.
6) While traveling don’t eat fast food.
Stop at a restaurant, get out, stretch your legs, and sit down and grab a meal. All restaurants have meats like steak, so you can always get a pretty good meal to be healthy.
7) Above all enjoy yourself.
It’s important that you don’t stress too much and try to have a great holiday season. I wish you all the best, and I hope this was helpful.
What do you do to help eliminate holiday weight gain? Let me know in the comments!
12-1-14 WOD
Strength:
Snatch Balance
Met Con:
Wall Balls x 1 min
1 min rest
Hang Clean x 1 min (Rx is 75/ 55)
1 min rest
Box Jumps x 1 min
1 min rest
3 rounds for total reps like FGB
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