Tips to Survive the Holidays
Strategies to Have a Healthy, Enjoyable Holiday Season
The holidays.
It’s a time of shopping, parties and a lot of indulging in treats.
It’s hard to eat healthy around the holidays and stay in your routine.
Everywhere you look, there are some sweets calling your name. Break rooms, at home, at parties, they are everywhere!
While it’s a tough time to stay on track, as they say, “where there’s a will, there’s a way.”
If you didn’t get a chance to make it to the “Healthy Holiday Survival” event, we talked plenty about these top strategies for having a healthy holiday.
Start implementing these to keep those pesky holiday pounds off:
Bring your own food
Whether you are at a party or at work, bring your own food. Of course you can eat other things, but bringing your own food allows you to control your environment.
Have healthy snacks at work
Snacking…whoof. This can be tough because I GUARANTEE break rooms are filled with sweets that people have brought in. And boy, those brownies or peanut butter fudge can be very tempting. To avoid overindulging, bring your own snacks to work. When you are hitting your mid-morning or mid-afternoon snack time, you can avoid the break room by having a piece of fruit, a protein bar, some almonds or vegetables.
Keep up with your exercise the best you can
No question it’s hard to stick with your exercise regimen during the holidays. Instead of your normal evening workout, you now have parties to attend. That’s where planning comes in. If you know you’re not going to be able to get to the gym in the evening, carve out some time in the morning or at lunch time to get a workout in. Maybe it’s your normal workout, maybe it’s just a 10-minute bodyweight circuit done in your office. Guess what? That’s okay because something is better than nothing.
Drink plenty of water
First off, you should be doing this anyway. Water is hydrates you, boosts skin health, maintains blood pressure, regulates body temperature and is essential for your organs. So drink it! It can also be filling. To avoid over drinking alcohol or indulging in too many sweets, drink water. Fill up and hydrate in the process.
Eat before you go to parties
This may seem a little crazy but it works. If you eat before you go to a party, you’re not going to overindulge. You’ll be full and even though those chocolate chip cookies look appetizing, maybe you opt for one instead of three because you’re not hungry. Your body will thank you.
Don’t go shopping when you’re hungry
Just like you should eat before going to parties, don’t go shopping hungry. If you go to any mall, the food court generally has a bunch of fast food places and no healthy options. Plan ahead, eat beforehand and then enjoy your shopping trip without getting that fried food, milkshake or pretzel bites.
Keep moving
Pretty simple. Get in your daily steps. Take a couple breaks throughout your day and get away from your desk to clear your head and get in a little exercise. If you take a few 5-10 minute walking breaks throughout the day, that adds up and boom, you have your steps. It’s hard around the holidays to get in your regular workouts, but when all else fails, keep moving.
Indulge Wisely
When all your favorite treats are lining the table, it’s hard to not indulge. Guess what? It’s okay to treat yourself. You deserve it. Instead of calling it a cheat meal or cheating on your diet, it’s a reward. If you are doing everything else the best you can, you deserve having a reward. Does that mean eat a whole plate of cookies? No, but enjoy yourself and indulge wisely.
Dedicated to Your Success,
Adam Clark
P.S. If you are interested in learning more about Adam Clark Fitness and if training with us is a good fit, please reach out via e-mail.
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