With Christmas and New Year’s Day coming up very soon, we’ve got to talk about maintaining your fitness during these irregular times. This is a great time of year, but it can be hard on your health if you’re not careful. Between thrown-off schedules and food temptations galore, you’ve got to be prepared.
Here are a few tips for staying fit this holiday season.
1. Remember what really matters.
You might have thought my first tip was going to be about avoiding the unhealthy foods that we all come across this time of year, but you’d be wrong! Don’t worry; that’ll come later. But first, we’ve got to talk about a different aspect of your fitness: relationships.
Christmas has become a stressful time for many of us. We’re really worried about getting everyone the perfect gift and throwing the perfect party. We’re running from place to place so quickly that we barely have time to celebrate at all.
If we’re going to maintain our fitness—much less our sanity—this time of year, we have to remember what truly matters: celebrating with those we love. The gifts don’t matter. The decorations don’t matter. Taking time to slow down, calm down, and just be with those you love is what this time is all about.
How often do you get a chance to put all of your responsibilities on hold and gather everyone you love together in one place? It almost never happens, so take advantage of it. Don’t let this special time pass you by.
2. Practice restrained flexibility.
Alright, now let’s talk about food.
It’s perfectly understandable that we might want to loosen up a little bit on our food and exercise routines over the holiday. After all, it’s about putting everything else on hold and focusing on the celebration. And you should enjoy that, too.
But that doesn’t mean you can’t be smart about it. If you want to splurge and have a dessert, that’s perfectly fine. However, it’s not fine for you to throw caution to the wind, eat everything in sight, and set yourself back physically. There’s a balance to it, and as long as you’re trying to find that balance, you’ll make it out just great.
Same goes for your exercise routine. Is it going to kill you to skip a workout to spend more time with your family on Christmas? Of course not! But if you spend a whole week on the couch without exerting yourself at all, you’re going to be in really bad shape once it’s time to hit the gym again. You might even be tempted to give up the routine entirely. We certainly don’t want that.
This is a time to put the routine aside and be flexible. But you also have to be restrained. Find that balance and you’ll be able to enjoy the holiday to its fullest extent.
3. Take advantage of the extra time.
We’ve talked about it before, and we’ll talk about it again: Rest is important. What better time to get some extra rest than the holidays?
We have to prioritize taking care of ourselves always, including this time of year. In the midst of all the celebration and fun, make sure to set aside some extra time for rest. You’re going to need it come January.
Sleep in. Take a nap. Doze in your recliner for a while if that’s what you like to do. Whatever it looks like for you, be sure to make time for rest in the coming days.
Those are my tips for staying fit this Christmas! Do you have any tips of your own? Do you have stories of how my tips have helped you? I’d love to hear them.
This will be the last blog post for this year, but I’ll be back very soon with more on how to stay fit in every area of your life. From Ken the Fit Guy to you and yours, here’s wishing you a merry Christmas and a happy new year. And as always…
To your fitness!