How to Stay Fit This Holiday Season
While stuffing is a treasured part of the holiday season, it’s not so appealing when it describes getting dressed. Finding the balance between enjoying the holidays and staying fit, active and healthy can be a challenge among the traveling, family gatherings, stress and holiday food. By keeping your goals intentional, making time for yourself and using the holidays to reward your fitness and nutrition achievements it IS possible to maintain a health regime during the holiday season.
Nutrition
While fitness may be your ultimate goal, proper and balanced nutrition is the keystone of these behaviors and staying on track to your health goals. By planning meals ahead of time and around the holiday meals, it’s possible to maintain a healthy caloric balance and enjoy holiday meals and treats without going overboard. Having the nutrition mentality to focus on protein and veggies first, eat intuitively, and not sabotage calories will keep nutrition on track. Nutrition provides energy, muscle growth, immunity and digestive normalcy to keep you at peak fitness performance and not get thrown off track during the busy holiday season. Creative ways to keep nutrition on the up and up include volunteering to bring a vegetable based, side salad, or other filling and high quality food to each gathering you attend. Also moderating calorie-heavy drinks and staying hydrated with water or sparkling water instead of holiday punch.
Schedule
If you’ve ever started a fitness regime, you know that a time commitment and schedule is the most important aspect. During the holidays this becomes even more vital to maintaining your fitness level. While some adjustments may be necessary, the most successful way to stay on track is to strictly dedicate a goal of workouts or active time each week and look at your schedule to ensure you can fit it in. This may require creativity and sacrifice, such as shortened lunch break workouts or earlier mornings each weekday, but they payoff and energy levels gained from such commitment will give you the stamina and pride to keep your fitness in check.
Stress Management
Keeping stress in check is a hot topic during the holidays and for good reason. Family gatherings and travel can take a toll on the best of us, so it’s important to remember the effects of stress and utilize nutrition and fitness lifestyles as stress management techniques. Finding relief in the release of physical activity will help keep your mind sharp and your dedication to your health journey. Choosing the right foods for your health as often as possible will keep your body strong and capable to keep up with the demand of the holiday. Viewing physical activity, even light such as walks and yoga as personal stress-relief time is a great way to maintain your hard-earned activity level while reaping the added benefits of stress management.
Accountability
It is well documented that health journeys taken on with family and friends are more successful and longer-lasting than going it alone. Since the holiday season is primarily social, it can be helpful to find accountability partners and share your journey with someone who has similar ideals or aspires to. By teaming up, holding each other accountable and celebrating your successes you can both stay on track and enjoy the journey to better health into the new year. Establishing this relationship before events can keep you both on track and give you the confidence and ability to make good choices throughout the holidays. Creating a text group or social media sharing plan can incentivize even further between you and your accountability group. Kick it up a knot he and create bets or money pools for getting a head start on New Year’s resolutions can also be a fun, helpful way to stay fit!
By making time your yourself, planning ahead, and having accountability the holiday season can be a breeze and still be enjoyed with proper nutrition, energy, and a great success story. By staying intuitive, you can enjoy pieces of the celebration while still staying on track the days before and after. With these tricks, you should be sailing into the New Year stronger, healthier, and more confident.
