There’s no need to be so hard on yourself through the holidays in regards to health and weight management. Did you know the average weight gain from mid-November to early-January is only 1-3 pounds? Most people think (or feel) they’ve gained 5-10 pounds! The main problem is that even with the small 1-3 pound gain, most people don’t end up losing it after the holiday season, so they experience weight gain over the years.
For the most part, we can agree that holidays are a happy occasion. However, for some, it can be a very stressful time of year. Regardless of how you view holidays, one thing that will help get you through this holiday season is working out – it will not only help you stay healthy, it will also help you destress and stay sane!
Instead of planning to workout for an hour, then realizing it won’t happen and giving up on it altogether, aim to set aside 10-20 minutes a day to be active (it doesn’t have to be formal exercise in a gym to count).
One thing you should not resolve to do is lose weight during this time. Aim to maintain. Food and holidays go hand in hand. There’s so much culture, emotions and love involved with meal times with friends and family during the holidays. Why make it one more thing to stress about?
Check out these 5 tips for maintaining your health and sanity this holiday season:
1. Prioritize a 10-20 minute workout as soon as you wake up (or during “me time” see tip #4).
Jump-start your metabolism with a morning workout before your day gets busy. Make your alarm be your favorite BollyX song! Roll out of bed and start dancing. Do 3-5 BollyX routines (1 warm-up, 2-3 dance song, 1 performance) and feel like a rockstar all day! Or, if you want to go the boot camp route, do 20 squats, 1 minute plank, 15 push-ups, 10 lunges per leg; repeat cycle 2-3 more times as desired. Even if you only have time to dance to one song, or do 20 squats, it’s a lot more than what most people do. Give yourself a pat on the back knowing you’ve started the day off in a superb way!
2. Sneak in activity throughout the day.
If you know you can’t make it to the gym for your usual BollyX class, no sweat (no pun intended). All active movements count! If you’ve got that pedometer or FitBit, you can still hit 10,000 steps every day during the holiday season. For instance, park farther from the store entrance, or take stairs instead of the escalator/elevators, or dance while you cook in the kitchen – it all adds up! Shopping also counts as exercise. Have you ever shopped for 4 hours holding all the purchases you’ve made? I have, and I can honestly say it’s an arm workout that leaves me sore the next day.
3. Be picky about your most favorite holiday treats
Food is an important part of the holidays. But guess what? This isn’t the last time you’ll ever see these foods again. Don’t starve yourself the day of the holiday party or meal. That will lead to poor food choices. Figure out what you love most, and prioritize eating that vs simply eating food because it’s there. You’ll enjoy the flavors and won’t feel sick by overeating. Stay hydrated by having a glass of water in between each serving of alcohol. Remember you are there to socialize and connect with family and friends, as well as eating – it’s not easy to have a conversation if you are constantly eating. Pace yourself, eat slowly and enjoy the conversations.
4. Don’t forget to carve out “me time.”
Those of us who host people during the holidays will need this tip the most. While you invite people over because you enjoy their company, doing so can also cause extreme stress due to the amount of prep work it takes to make for a wonderful evening: from grocery shopping to cooking; cleaning the house to decorating, it can leave you feeling too overwhelmed and exhausted to even enjoy the party yourself. Despite thinking you don’t have enough time, make a huge effort to schedule downtime for yourself so that you don’t go insane. This downtime could be a 20 minute nap, 5 minutes of meditation, or a 10 minute walk around the block (see tips 1 and 2.)
5. Sleep.
You may think you don’t have time to sleep, or that you can sleep later, but the truth is, you need those 7-9 hours more than ever during the holiday season. Don’t skip it. You’ll be more productive and less stressed if you get your beauty rest. You’ll thank us later.
Please share any other tips you have for staying healthy and stress-free during the holiday season! And if you tried some of these tips, let us know if it helped or not.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!