7 Tips to Staying Fit Over The Holidays
You can and should enjoy the holidays, but you also want to preserve your sexy, not try to get it back. With all the tempting, rich, holiday food you’ll be enjoying over the next few weeks at family dinners and house parties, it’s time to think about your holiday workout plan too.
Follow these six tips on staying fit over the holidays.
1. Aim to stay on your fitness program over the holidays.
If you fail to plan then you plan to fail. Most women expect to “blow” their diets, eat more, and skip workouts over the holidays. Avoid this trap by planning to succeed through your holidays. Set up a positive expectation, keep your standards up, and expect success.
2. Plan your workouts in advance.
You already know your schedule is going to be hectic over the holidays. You’ll be cooking, shopping, relaxing, visiting friends, and going to parties. To avoid being caught unprepared, plan your schedule in advance. Anticipate what’s coming up, write it down, and put it on your calendar just like you would any other appointment, and place it where you will be forced to look at it every day.
3. Give yourself permission to have a planned “cheat day”.
A planned “cheat day” helps you stay on your program better in the long run. If you’re too strict all the time, you’re setting yourself up for cravings and bingeing. One cheat meal per week will have only a minor effect on your body.
4. If you veer off the fitness trail, get right back on it.
Don’t beat yourself up even if you fall off the fitness trail. Get right back on your program without missing another second. Just because you mess up once or twice doesn’t mean you should quit. Be a self motivator and get back in the gym and back on your program.
5. Maintain your consistent eating schedule.
If there’s one thing all women who successfully get lean and stay lean have in common, it’s consistency. Without it, you never get any momentum going. Continue with your pattern of eating small, frequent meals all year round. All you have to do is count your holiday dinners as one of your regular meals and keep them light.
6. Control your portion sizes.
To loose body fat, you must consume fewer calories than you burn up each day. Too much of anything gets stored as fat, even healthy food. There’s no reason to deprive yourself of things you enjoy. Just make sure you don’t overindulge, and you eat your favorite foods in moderation.
7. Don’t buy into other people’s low standards
Keep your standard’s high, but don’t expect others standards to be as high as yours. Remember that you’ve decided to stay strong unlike most people, so don’t let their negative influence of offering you seconds on desert bring you down. Just say, “no thank you, it was absolutely delicious and I’m full”, and keep it moving.
What are some of your holiday workout tips that work for you?
