Every winter season, our body naturally glides into relaxed mood mostly because its towards the end of the year and most people are winding down activities and getting ready for the holidays. It’s also a period when we get to spend more time with family, visit friends, attend gatherings and all that comes with lots of food and even more yummy food. Then our mind becomes lazy and less disciplined and we tend to give ourselves over to the season until it passes before we begin again to start exercising discipline and self-control.
For most people, finding their discipline after giving in for that period of time is almost like winning a lottery. It could be hard to regain momentum after losing it, however there are tips I can share with you to help you maintain fitness and stay healthy during family gatherings this season and also to help you avoid winter weight gain and help you keep it together in the midst of the food and celebrations.
Achieving this is no small fit, it will take a lot of will power to be able to make healthy food choices and stick with it all year round, this season requires most of us to dig deeper and have a prepared mindset.
One way to prepare our minds is to ask ourselves, is it worth loosing 11 months of enduring hard work and dedication to various goals to one month of indulging that might end up eroding all those gains.
The idea of letting go during this time sounds like it’s fun but wait till after you pick up those extra fat and also remind yourself of the pain and struggle you’d have to go through to lose them especially if you’re over and above a certain age.
It doesn’t matter how busy or laid back we get during December, you should have what I refer to as a game plan and you know how I love to plan my to-do-list and tackle them. This is works for me all the time, and it may be different for you but you should try to come up with a plan that works for you. Here, I’d like to share with you my game plan on how to stay fit and eat healthily during the Winter Season.
Before I start, I would like to quickly point out one note; If you have resolved to get fit and lose weight in the new year by joining a gym, be sure to check out Find a gym and workout for you.
“SO LET’S GET TO THE JUICY PLAN”
Plan your workouts in advance
Keep your workout routine as simple as possible so that it’s easy stick to. If you’re going to be away from home and won’t have access to a gym, you can actually refer to your beginner’s guide when you didn’t have need for sophisticated gym equipment.A body weight to work out or one of those easy, on the go travel work out equipment like resistance bands, ankle weights, or a skipping rope. In order to play safe, I always keep these items in my suitcase as an extra pair, so they’ve become part of my traveling lifestyle routine. By incorporating effective exercise routines that ensures you make use of these items is definitely one great way to maintain your work out routines during December when you may not always have access to a gym. Another way is to just go outside and take a brisk walk, run a mile or two our use your Total Body WorkoutOne last tip, make sure you’re up early before everyone else to do your routines; that way you don’t get distracted once you get to it. Schedules are usually hectic during this season so waking up early in the morning might actually be the only time you have to get in a powerful workout. Wake up as early as possible and do an exercise video or head off to the gym for some morning cardio.
Plan your meals in advance
Making sufficient plans well ahead of time is not something that should be restricted to training or exercising, If you keep a food diary such as Myfitnesspal, you can log in your meals in advance especially if you need to have family for lunch or share dinner invites. We’re all aware of how we can get carried away with conversations during this types of Family meals and not realize how much we may have consumed during those times. What you can do also is to find clever ways to consume fewer calories a day or two before the big family events so that you’ll not have to worry about calories on that day.The most important point to take here is to make sure that the effect of these love feasts do not drag into a week, two weeks, or even longer, because in the end they all add up and we know what this means. I always strongly advise that we do not over indulge ourselves during the holiday season because this just leads to unhealthy eating and mental habits especially if you’re the type that is worried about your eating habits.
TRAIN BEFORE OR AFTER CHEAT MEAL
After 18 years on this fitness journey, I have heard and read a lot of arguments for and against cheat meals i.e. training either before or after having cheat/big meal and tis debate have always thrown up varying opinions with those in support of training before cheat meals mostly winning the argument.My personal advice is to just train the normal way you train. One cheat meal is not going to make you fat, just as one excellent workout session won’t make you super sexy nor fit. It takes time of consistent practice before it begins to count. Whatever you decide to help you stay fit and eat healthy during this season, just ensure that it is something that will not give you extra weight to carry while trying to achieve next year’s goals.
Double down on the basics: Sleep, Hydration, Rest, Nutrition
At the core of any fitness lifestyle is simply imbibing daily habits that promote basic health and help you feel good and give you enough have energy during the day. These habits tend to fall by the wayside while we’re traveling, staying up late, or eating more than usual.Not that I’m trying to shame your choices, rather I’m just trying to make you more aware of things you would ordinarily overlook. Always pay attention to if you’ve had enough water, be conscious of the quality of sleep you’re getting. Try to always strike a balance between fun foods and more nutrient enriched foods. If you’re beginning to feel overwhelmed, pause for a second and give yourself a break. This is not to turn you into a fitness freak but the purpose is just to keep you in good shape until when the December season is over and you’re back in your regular routine.Remember, December is only a few weeks and it’s actually a good idea to take some time off time off but also remember you need to maintain all the hard work you have done during the course of the year.
EATING HEALTHY IS HOW I SHOW I LOVE MY BODY! 🙂
SHARING IS CARING!