It’s almost Christmas, which means you’re most likely trying to keep your healthy habits in check and hopefully achieve your goal of keeping a healthy holiday season. After all, you’ve worked hard in the gym (and probably harder in the kitchen) all year and you want nothing to do with a total crash this year.
However, as the holiday season rolls on and Christmas cookies fill the office break room, sticking to your regular fitness regimen can get a little tougher.
If this sounds familiar, let the stress wash off your shoulders As head coach and quality manager for Legion Athletics, Harry Barnes lays the foundation for a stress-free and easy-to-manage approach to staying on course during a fit Christmas and holiday season.
You have 35 days to keep your Christmas routine in shape
First, a healthy perspective, with Thanksgiving, Christmas, Boxing Day and New Years, “it’s easy to see the holiday season as a series of gluttony and overindulgence,” says Barnes.
However, if you feel overwhelmed with the fear of missing out, remember this: “In the United States, there are 39 days between Thanksgiving and January 1st. And if we exclude those four vacation dates listed above, we have 35 days left to stay active, eat nourishing food, and maintain a healthy routine,” Barnes says, putting into perspective the time left to maintain habits. healthy while enjoying the festivities and food of a healthy Christmas.
Maintain your routine without too much interruption
Good news! According to Barnes, no hill sprints are required during this time and when Christmas dinner is ready (unless you want to, of course). Instead, when preparing his clients for a successful vacation, he “looks at how can we maintain a client’s routine without too much disruption,” says Barnes, and provides them with a list of tools among which ones to choose, if they wish to implement any.
After all, holidays are for relaxing, refueling and relaxing. If all you do is count calories and worry about how you missed your Christmas workout, your holiday will be in the pits. This is where staying consistent with a few minor tweaks comes in “Consistency, especially in the long run, trumps perfection.” Barnes said.
For example, to go a little easier while still being consistent, “Increase the dial a little lower – take a long walk instead of a jog, do a bodyweight routine instead of your usual dumbbell circuit and hit the gym three times a week instead of your usual five, but don’t let it drop to zero,” Barnes says.
Small adjustments make a huge difference when it comes to maintaining your health habits. “Ultimately, we want to think of these tweaks as light ‘damage control; You don’t punish yourself for having a good time and enjoying particular foods,” Barnes says. You just have to keep moving and eating in ways that make you happy and nourish your body.
Simply acknowledging that you’re likely to eat a little more and move a little less, “So doing the reverse around those occasions — without demanding expectations or rigid scheduling — is a natural, gentle nudge in a leaner direction.” Barnes said.
Our bodies are equipped to use excess calories
“We don’t gain as much weight as we think from just one episode of overeating,” Barnes says. In a study conducted at the University of Colorado, the researchers placed the participants in a daily surplus of 1,400 calories. The result? After two weeks of overeating, they only gained three pounds. That’s it.
“Of course, this is just one example and circumstances differ – food choice, activity levels and stress all affect how much weight you gain or lose – but our bodies are equipped with ‘tools to gently down-regulate our food intake after bouts of overeating,” says Barnes. He explains that you’ll move more, hunger will decrease, and you’ll generally train a little harder. In other words, you will use this extra energy wisely.
The end of the calendar year is therefore not necessarily a trail of inevitable blowouts. “Instead, it’s a time to see loved ones, take some time to relax, and just recognize that there may, at worst, be some soft gears on the way to your body composition goals. “, explains Barnes.
Avoid an all-or-nothing approach for a healthy Christmas
Worrying about eating while on vacation can lead to an all-or-nothing approach, but it actually causes more harm than good. During the holidays, many tend to worry about excess calories, alcohol consumption, and lack of workout days.
“As a result, we’ve drastically cut calories between festivities, hoping to offset the ‘damage’ as much as possible.” Barnes said.
Barnes explains that this type of behavior only encourages an unfavorable yo-yo effect. “We mistakenly add guilt to the exorbitance of the holiday (probably by eating more, as a result) and grind ourselves to compensate for the inevitable indulgence,” Barnes says. Simply put, you don’t need to “earn” any kind of food, or “catch up” on time spent with friends and family.
As a corollary, Barnes suggests a mild ebb and flow, if you overeat a few thousand calories over Christmas, “Don’t cut calories and increase HIIT for a few days,” he says.
Rather, Barnes encourages you to dedicate those calories to a productive cause. “Add a few extra sets to your next workout, put an extra five pounds on the bar, or take a relaxing walk after dinner with your partner,” Barnes suggests.
Simply put, Barnes encourages getting back to your usual routine with, at most, a few light tweaks. “That way, you’ll avoid irrational eating behaviors, rightly enjoy your holiday festivities, and put those extra calories to work for you without any extreme adjustments. Balance, after all, is key. He says, offering perspective indispensable on the marriage of fitness and vacation fun.
Have fun
And finally, “Remember you’re in the driver’s seat.” Barnes said.
“One trap that many people fall into is perpetual dieting: never losing weight steadily enough over the holidays, then going too far over the holiday season, only to find yourself in the same position twelve months later.” He explains.
However, by incorporating some of the key strategies Barnes encourages, like prioritizing protein, avoiding too many back-to-back indulgences, and giving yourself permission to relax with your progress, you’ll be able to sail through the end of the year. gain, at most, a few pounds.
For example, enjoy your loved ones, move your body the way you like it, eat nutritious foods during the thirty-five days of the holiday season, and create memories that last a lifetime.
