6 Ways to Stay Fit During the Holidays
From Thanksgiving through Christmas and New Year’s, it is very easy to overindulge in holiday goodies and neglect your fitness goals. By the time the new year rolls around, many of us feel bloated and out of shape.
It doesn’t have to be like that. There are some simple things you can do to maintain your fitness at this time of year and still enjoy the holiday cheer. “Staying active in some way will give you energy, reduce stress and tension and, of course, help mitigate some of the extra calories you may be eating”, says author Paige Waehner.
Check out these six ways to stay fit during the holidays so you start the new year feeling energized rather than sluggish:
Schedule time to work out. Let’s be honest, the holiday season is very busy. Just as you would schedule time for a meeting at work or holiday shopping, when you make time on your calendar for exercise, it’s more likely to happen. Review your week ahead and figure out the most practical times to exercise, such as in the morning before the day gets away from you.
Find creative ways to be active. There are ways to squeeze in fitness that don’t have to be a traditional workout. When holiday shopping, park a bit farther away from the mall so you’re forced to walk more. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Bundle up and take a walk with your family to look at the lights. Build physical activity into your holiday traditions. Even if it’s chilly outside, bundling up and going for a brisk stroll is a good way to walk off that rich Christmas dinner and take in the lights while shedding some calories in the process. A 20-minute walk can cover about a mile, which can burn off about 100 calories, depending on a person’s sex and weight.
Squeeze in some activity, it’s better than none. If you can’t find time to hit the gym, don’t skip exercising altogether. A quick workout is better than no workout. Try to incorporate even just 10 minutes of physical activity a day. “You can do, for instance, 10 pushups, and then some bodyweight squats and some lunges,” Ebner noted. “You can repeat that two or three times and commit 10 or 15 minutes to it. Work hard, but keep it sustainable.”
Work out with a friend. Staying motivated is one of the hardest parts about committing to fitness — especially in the winter and around the holidays. Putting it off to another day is easy when it’s just you. If you get a friend involved if your fitness process it can help you stick with it. Take a fitness class together, go for a brisk walk, just move.
If you're traveling, planning ahead can make all the difference. Take some time to figure out what your options are so you're ready for anything.
If you're staying with family, find any nearby gyms and ask if they let guests use their facility, or sell day passes.
If that's not an option, ask family or friends if they have any fitness equipment you can use.
If you're staying in a hotel, find out if it has an exercise room.
Hydrate and eat sensibly. Eating well is part of staying fit. You don’t have abstain completely from your favorite seasonal treats, just watch your portion sizes. Try to sneak in vegetables when and where you can. Drink plenty of water, especially alongside alcohol. Eat something small before you head to that holiday party so you won’t arrive on an empty stomach and make bad choices. “I always like to enforce the 80/20 rule: be good 80 percent of the time and enjoy the desserts and holiday treats 20 percent of the time,” Sharon Zarabi, RD, CDN, CPT, bariatric program director at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York, told Healthline. “Indulging on Christmas Day or at holiday parties is not enough to derail you from your lifestyle. It’s the accumulation of what you do over the long term that really impacts your weight loss efforts,” says author Dan Gray.
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