Getting through the holidays, without looking like Santa!

The holiday season is the hardest time of year to lose, or even maintain your weight. From the parties and family gatherings taking up your time, to the delicious meals and treats that wait around every corner. Making it into the gym is sometimes not an option and healthy food choices can be hard to come by at social gatherings. You want to stay healthy, but it seems like the cards are stacked against you. We have some fun and easy ways that you can keep those lb.’s off, while still enjoying the season!

The biggest culprit for adding pounds on this time of year is the ‘cheat meal.’ This is a term that is usually used as an excuse while attending parties or gatherings that have lots of delicious food and/or alcohol. Instead of setting limits, people use the all or nothing approach. Either I don’t eat anything unhealthy, or it's a free for all because it’s a ‘cheat meal.’ The best way to avoid this is to have a plan. You have to set yourself up for success in situations where you are at a disadvantage. In another article I wrote, HERE, I talk about how to use a phone application called MyFitnessPal to create a ‘Flexible Diet.’ This type of diet allows you to have ANYTHING you want, in MODERATION. You can even use the app to set a plan before you go. If you know that you are going to drink at a party later in the day, add 3 beers into the app when you first wake up. You can then eat around those calories leading up to the party, so when you get there they are guilt free! This can be done with any food and can save your diet during the holiday season.

Time is a scarce resource; especially this time of year. So finding the time to exercise can be difficult, but it doesn’t have to be a big time commitment to make a difference. A short, high intensity, workout can break a sweat and burn off those unwanted calories. You don’t even need to go to a gym, there are plenty of things that you can do at home. Simple bodyweight movements are a great way to stay active. Things like Air Squats, Push-ups, Sit-ups, Burpees, Lunges, and Tuck-Jumps can all be done anywhere at anytime. A short AMRAP (As Many Rounds As Possible) will keep the intensity high. Pick any combination of the movements that you would like to do. Then pick a number of reps for each movement, somewhere between 5–15 each. Then set a clock for however long you have, 5–10 minutes is a great timeframe to keep the intensity high. An example workout might look like this: 7 minutes- As Many Rounds As Possible of 5 Push-ups, 10 Sit-ups, and 15 Air-Squats. Then it time to get to work, hit go and have fun working up a sweat! If you really don’t want to cut into family time to workout, getting the family involved is a great idea! Making a workout into a game is a great way to do this. Be creative, things like doing a Burpee every time that Santa is on T.V or seeing who can do 20 Air-Squats the fastest each commercial break will keep it fun for everyone.

You should not have to start off the new year by trying to lose weight from the holiday season. If you make a few smart choices and put in a little effort, you can set yourself up for success! If you have any questions about this article, or still need more guidance, please email me at Kolin@dignifiedcrossfit.com and I will gladly help!