It's that time of year again! Say whaaaat? – Depending on where you are in in the world you might be scorching hot and hitting up the beaches (like we are in Australia) OR the snow is falling, the days get colder and we spend more time searching out the comfort of good food, good friends and good time with family.
It's also the time of year when an overabundance of delicious snacks, desserts and meals make their way into our lives. Whether you celebrate Christmas or not, somehow this time of year is a "tough one" for overindulging from the 1st of December right through into the New Year.
And despite how enjoyable it is to indulge, it isn't so great for our waistline, our energy levels and sliding back into our health routine after making some ridiculous New Year’s Resolutions.
In this blog, we have put together our top 5 Way to Crush Your Health and Fitness Goals Over The Holidays!
1 – Make exercise a priority by scheduling it.
Your days and nights will be super busy so make time for a quick workout or walk in the morning before you hit the ground running. Treat exercise like appointments and meetings. Try adding it to your calendar and make it a goal to exercise for 20- 30 minutes, 3-5 days a week.
Choose a 20 minute interval training to get maximum benefit in the least amount of time. On days that are too busy even for that, plan some fun physical activities over the holidays - take over the neighborhood basketball court for a game, head to the trampoline park, take a family hike, go swimming or bike riding with the fam - the ideas are endless!
2 – Hydrate, and then hydrate some more.
You should be drinking about eight glasses of water a day – especially if you are drinking alcohol. One thing I do is keep a 1L bottle near me. I fill it in the morning and then monitor how much of it is gone by lunch time and fill it again. However you measure your water, find a way that works for you.
3. Don't Skip Meals
This is one of my personal favourite tips: Instead of showing up to the party starving - arrive half full! Be sure to eat your healthy meals and snacks during the day, focusing on fruits, veggies, lean protein and a small amount of whole grains. If you follow your regular eating plan, you will be set up for success when you arrive at the party buffet. We want to be able to enjoy all the special foods around this time of year - we just don't want to go overboard by over-filling ourselves with multiple servings.
4. Bring Something Healthy Even if you aren't hosting, offer to help out the host by bringing a dish - appetizer, side dish or healthy dessert. This way you can be sure there will be at least one item you can eat guilt free. We’ve got a ton of healthy recipe ideas on our website AND we even created a Xmas Themed Nutrition Guide full of lots of yummy healthy meals & snacks for the festive season!
5. Get Your Sleep
Getting less than 7-8 hours can have an adverse effect in many ways: Increases cortisol, which pushes up blood sugar, increases your hunger hormone which increases our appetite and craving for sweet and salty. Lack of sleep leaves our energy low so we are less apt to get our physical activity in for the day. It's not always easy this time of year, but it's really important to make sleep a priority. Start by telling your direct family that you're committing to getting 7-8 hours of sleep, which will mean planning your day around that. When you verbalize your goals, you'll be surprised by how the people closest to you help you to reach them. And everyone benefits from getting a good night's sleep!
Why compromise your health this Christmas?
You absolutely can enjoy the silly seasons GUILT FREE with Fit2Last’s 21 Day Holiday Challenge! We know staying healthy over the holidays isn’t all about 'training hard' & 'eating salad'. Ugh. So, we created this program to combine THREE of the most important components we believe will help keep you feeling healthy, fit and focused during the holidays - even just by doing the bare ass minimum each day: - MINDSET - FITNESS - NUTRITION We want to help you feel like your holiday season is balanced, enjoyable without feeling guilty or going overboard, your body & immune system stay healthy AND you are on track for a killer start to 2022
Click here for program details. Give yourself the gift of health this year 😊
