Three Tips for Fitness Goals and the Holidays
The holiday season is upon us! This invariably means there are food and family/friends holiday events that you may be juggling to keep up with. You may struggle to keep up with your regular fitness routine to add to those family/friends’ holiday events. You may also find many yummy holiday treats and foods you want to try.
Trust me, I have been there. I often struggle at the beginning of the holiday season. I look forward to all of the yummy food. I love the sweets and treats that the holiday season brings. I have a hard time realizing when too much is too much indulgence. I want to be cozy and snuggle up watching holiday movies as the weather gets colder. I start to lack the motivation to continue my fitness goals. Right now, I am working on getting back into my entire fitness routine. Over the last year or so, I have been struggling with consistency. I know that this is not the ideal time to work on getting back into my fitness routine. I think about it like this: why not now? I can get back into everything during the most challenging time of the year so that the rest of the year will be a BREEZE! So why not now? Why wait? There is no reason why not to now!
Throughout the years, I have learned several tips and tricks for keeping up with my fitness goals. So if that is something you are interested in, keep reading as I go through my top three tips for keeping up with your fitness goals this holiday season.
Remember why you started.
Motivation comes and goes. READ THAT AGAIN. Motivation comes and goes. You can not rely on motivation to keep you going. So my tip is to remember why you started. What was that initial motivation that got you started?
By thinking about your reason for starting, you help increase the motivation that you had when you started. For example, my reason for getting into fitness is health and longevity. I want to be able to move my body and live a mobile life well into old age. I want to continue doing the stuff I love to do now when I am old. I want to create daily habits that will last a lifetime.
I mentioned earlier that I haven’t been as consistent in the last year or so. So as I am getting back into my routine, I am not only creating a NEW routine as I have moved into a house with almost an hour commute to work, but I also remember why I wanted to start in the first place. I miss having my workouts in my daily routine. I miss how I feel when I eat healthily. So this is my motivation to get started now.
As time goes on and I lose that motivation, I will remember these things as to why I want to maintain a healthy and active lifestyle. I love starting now because waiting until January is not ideal. It is when everyone else finds their motivation to get started, and I don’t see that motivating for myself personally. I
Prioritize
Figure out what parts of your health and fitness routine you cannot give up. This will allow you to make time for all the family holiday/friends’ holiday events while keeping up with your personal goals. This may mean you have to alter your routine or even miss a workout for one week.
Say you work out every day after work and go for a run during the weekend. Your family and friends invite you to an all-day Saturday event. So what is your priority for your health and fitness goals? Do you choose to do your run before the Saturday event or skip it altogether? It is all dependent on your priorities. How important are your health and fitness goals to you? It may turn out that you work out at different times than usual so that you do not miss any workouts to attend friends’ and family holiday events. Or are you okay with skipping a few weekly workouts to make time for all the holiday things?
My current priority is to maintain my regular routine with my workouts. We don’t always have many holiday events to attend, so it is easy for me to maintain my regular workout routine. If we are invited to a holiday event, I will shift when I work out to do both.
Let it GO!
What I mean by this is EAT THE DAMN TREATS. I do not mean eating an entire plate of cookies in one sitting. But maybe allow yourself to eat one or two here and there. Think about your goals and enjoy the holiday treats and food. Especially if the food is your favorite part of the holiday season. You WILL thank yourself for allowing a little treat.
This will look different for every person based on your goals. Maybe you’re in a cutting phase for a sport, or whatever it may be. Allow yourself a small portion of your favorite treat every now and again. Maybe you are simply trying to lose some weight, one treat here, and there will not derail all of your goals. Whatever your goals are, indulging in some holiday treats and food in moderation will not ruin all of your dreams.
When it comes to holiday meals. My biggest tips are:
eat a high-protein breakfast and/or lunch, even if you eat a smaller portion than usual. This way, you are not so hungry by the time the holiday meal comes. I find that this helps me SO MUCH because I have a habit of filling my plate because I am so hungry, and then I tend to overeat if I am too hungry come meal time.
add small amounts of your favorite foods to your plate. This way, you can enjoy all the yummy foods and still stick to your goals.
LET IT GO! one meal will not ruin EVERYTHING for you. so let it go. enjoy the meal, and enjoy the family. then jump right back into your regular routine the next day. I do not recommend restricting yourself following an indulgent meal. Simply get back into your regular nutrition and fitness routine.
My FAVORITE thing about the holidays is the treats! I LOVE LOVE sweets and yummy holiday treats. So during my daily life, I like to add in some chocolate and sweet coffee drinks every day. So during the holiday season, I still allow that but in moderation. I will tend to overindulge if I am not mindful of how much I eat. Also, I have noticed that the fewer micro and macronutrients in my daily diet, I tend to crave more sweets and the likelihood of overindulging is higher. So maintaining my usual healthy diet focusing on high protein and a variety of micronutrients helps me keep on track even with the temptation of all of the yummy foods and treats.
Conclusion
I hope this helps you as we get into the holiday season! My biggest tips are remembering why you started, prioritizing your goals, and letting go. What is life if you do not enjoy the things about the holiday season? I love the holidays and enjoy the food and treats the most! I love spending time with my family and friends. I still love maintaining my health and fitness routine, even throughout the holidays. So I hope these tips are helpful to you keep up with your goals throughout the holiday season. In the comments, let us know your favorite tips for the holidays!
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If you are here and reading this, you have an interest in your health and fitness. That is so good; I am so excited for you! Taking care of your body is the best thing you can do for yourself in the present and the long term.
“Do something today that your future self will thank you for.”
— unknown
I find that quote so inspiring. Hard work will pay off in the future, but you must also live in the moment, and taking care of yourself is doing both. You are doing good for yourself now and for your future self.
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