“How in the world am I supposed to be healthy when I have all of this delicious food around me during the holiday season?”
This must be what you’re asking yourself right now!
Believe me, I get that it’s difficult to show some restraint during this time period when there are holiday parties every weekend and you have tons of goodies, desserts, and wine flowing around. However, if you show some discipline and willpower through this “Season of Indulgence” (where people tend to gain on average anywhere between 2 -10 pounds), I guarantee that your body will thank you later for it.
It’s no secret that November and December are very tempting times for people. From a diet and exercise standpoint one can easily lose focus. Don’t be one of the many people who place their health and fitness on the back burner during this time of the year and then rush to their nearest gym on January 1st looking for a cleanse and a jumpstart back towards a fitness goal. Be one of the few people who make a commitment NOW to stay fit and healthy during the Holidays and start 2017 off strong and ahead of the curve.
So now you must be saying to yourself, “well, that sounds great and all but how do I stay focused on my diet and fitness goals?”
Well I’m glad that you asked – here are 4 ways you can stay focused on your fitness goals during the holiday season:
Realize What The Holidays Were Intended For
What are the holidays to you? Many believe it’s all about eating lots of food. For some people, it’s about parties. For others, it’s about receiving or giving gifts to one another. But the holidays are truly just about showing appreciation and spending time with family, friends, and loved ones…which really can be any day of the year. So when you are able to look at it from that perspective, your temptation level decreases because what’s really the difference between December and January or even August? The truth is that there is not much of a difference. Temptations are around us all year long and we have to learn to just stay disciplined and not compromise our fitness goals for anything or anybody.
Drink LOTS of Water
This is important all year long but especially so if you’re in a party environment during this holiday season where you are tempted by food and drinks. A lot of people will consider themselves hungry, when in reality a glass of water will suppress the appetite. I often tell clients that they should never show up to a party starving and should drink two glasses of water every 15 – 30 minutes to help resist the heavy caloric temptations such as cake, pie, and cookies.
Exercise in the Morning
If you know that you have to go to a party that day or in the evening, then you should definitely get your workout in early as possible. To work out in the morning is advice that I would give to anyone all year round but definitely so during the holiday season, because life sometimes gets in the way of an afternoon or evening workout…whereas a workout in the morning somewhere between 5am – 8am usually provides one with an opportunity to keep their distractions at a minimum. You can get in and get out before anything else occurs. By doing this, you provide yourself with the proper foundation to start your day off by subtracting calories instead of not working out and then adding calories to your body on top of that.
Set a Goal For Yourself
The goal that you set can be anything that you think will motivate you for success. Maybe your goal is to go for a walk every day for 30 minutes for the month of December, or to perform two exercises on your Total Gym five days per week. Maybe the goal is food based and you promise yourself not to eat a certain amount of calories per day and/or to drink a certain amount of water each day. Whatever it is, you have to decide because no two people are the same and everyone’s goals are different but the fact of the matter is that you do need to CHOOSE A GOAL. How else will you know where you’re going? By choosing a goal, you will give yourself a greater sense of direction and create mindfulness on staying strong no matter what you are tempted by.
So there you have it, four simple tips to help you to create amazing fitness success for yourself during the holiday season. No magic bullet, no diet, no gimmicks … just hard work, commitment, discipline, and a few tweaks to your normal routine will help provide you with a new perspective to stay focused and to elevate your fitness program going into 2017!
