Ready or not, the holiday season and all its festive trappings are here. With packed social calendars, long to-do lists, and the onset of harsh winter weather, it’s not always the most wonderful time of the year as far as commitment to fitness and nutrition are concerned.
Keeping your habits on track through the holidays doesn’t require a binary choice between endless self-indulgence and unbending devotion to working out and eating “right”. By following these tips, it'll find it easier to return to a more normal routine in the new year. Do your best to strike that balance, but be forgiving if you slip up. Falling down every now and then is part of the process. You only lose if you decide not to get back up.
When there's a never-ending list of evening activities happening, there's a good chance you'll have to tweak your workout schedule a bit. I often remind clients that progress is better than perfection, so if you normally work out for an hour, cutting your workout time down to half an hour is better than nothing.
If you want to continue with longer workouts, I recommend working out first thing in the morning. Not only will a morning workout get you energized for the day ahead, you won't have to worry about sneaking away for some exercise while everyone else is having fun. If you’re not a morning person, laying out everything you’ll need to exercise the night before makes it easier to roll out of bed and launch right into a workout.
A lot of holiday social events revolve around food and drink. When putting together your plate at these holiday soirées, prioritize getting your protein first — ideally with some veggies on the side — to help keep you from filling up on treats.
And be mindful of how much alcohol you consume, as too much imbibing can really throw off your fitness goals. Focus on having a glass of water in between drinks, which will counteract booze’s dehydrating effect and pace your consumption. At the end of the night, drink a large glass of water before bed. Continue hydrating regularly throughout the holiday season, especially since you’ll be consuming more foods that may not typically find their way into your diet.
Between the blustery weather and a whirlwind of indoor activity, it can be hard to get off the couch or out of the kitchen, but walking for just 10 minutes can aid with digestion and circulation. After a meal, make it a habit to grab your people, bundle up, and head out for a short walk (ideally a few times a day).
Not only does the after-meal stroll settle your stomach, it soothes the mind, too. Spending time outside in the daylight increases vitamin D levels, which may play a role in boosting mood and keeping depression at bay. Given that vitamin D is in shorter supply so close to the winter solstice, everyone will be glad that they took the time to get outside for a bit of light exercise in between the day’s other fun activities.
We tend to associate certain foods with specific holiday occasions, but there’s no reason they should be confined to any particular corner of the calendar. If you assume you can only eat your favorites once a year, you’re more likely to overindulge.
Instead, eat until you’re full, remembering that you can have that cookie or piece of pie on any of the other day of the year, too. This not only helps you create and maintain a healthier relationship with food around the holidays, but realize that no foods are truly off-limits as you start to think about nutrition in the new year.
Living a healthy life also means living a balanced life. Hyper-focusing on your fitness goals won't do you any favors this time of year, but neither will treating every day like a cheat day.
If you have a string of days at home where you have the time to follow your usual fitness routine and control what you're eating, take advantage of it. Once it’s time to celebrate, you’ll feel better having stuck with your healthy habits on those “normal” days leading up to the season’s festivities. That permission to let go isn’t about doing whatever you want all the time, but about not beating yourself up for treating the holidays like a special occasion — because after all, that’s exactly what they are!
