The last thing you want at a holiday or New Year’s Eve party is for your pants to rip, and you especially don’t want them to rip because of weight gain. Unfortunately for the majority of people, weight gain and the holiday season go together like salad and dressing. Instead of your pants refusing to stay sewn shut while you dance your way into the New Year, you can take action and prevent this by learning to stay active during the holidays.
It can be difficult to focus on fitness during the holidays because holiday shopping, parties, events, and more take over your schedule. The successful approach to being active this holiday season is to broaden your fitness horizons and not limit your view of what activity should be. You don’t need to hit the gym, sweat it out at a spin class, or get in touch with your inner Zen master at a yoga workshop. All of those suggestions are possible and beneficial, but you can also use the following tips to keep fitness in your life.
Exercise When You Get Up In The Morning
We all know that the days can get away from us during the holidays. End of the year projects, holiday planning, travel, meetings, and more can derail your plans. For example, you may wait until the day before your office’s white elephant gift party to go out and buy your gift. Holidays are filled with the unexpected, so keep fitness a constant by exercising in the morning. You can do an interval circuit at home, walk your dog for 30 minutes, or practice a yoga sequence. Movement is movement and that is beneficial for the body.
Join A Challenge
Social media can feel like a life-draining force, but there are pockets of hope and worth. People post workout challenges on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter, and they often provide detailed instructions to execute the exercise(s) properly. Be it a 30-day plank challenge, one-week ab challenge, or 10-day squat challenge, the gentle competitive nature and camaraderie of people, who have the goal of staying fit, can inspire you to exercise consistently during the holidays.
Sign Up For A Race
Thousands of races take place during the holidays, and they are often themed, family friendly, and an all around great time. Ranging from 5ks to half marathons and more, holiday races are great for keeping yourself in shape. You don’t want to enter without preparing, so you’ll be forced to train in the time leading up to the race. Make the race a group activity so that you can all train for the race together!
Traveling During The Holidays? Prepare Yourself
Travel has almost become an inevitable part of the holiday season. Some people use their travel time as an excuse to take a break from fitness, but we don’t advocate that mentality. If you regularly exercise, don’t let your travel plans change your fitness habits. Bring the athletic gear you need to perform your desired fitness activity. If you have a gym membership, see if you can locate a branch of your gym where you are going and make time to go there during your travels. If there is no gym and it will be extremely cold outside, bring resistance bands to do at-home workouts.
However you decide to stay active during the holidays, understand that we support you and encourage you to not sleep on fitness. You need to burn the calories that you’ll most likely eat! Finally, if you can’t do any of the tips we mentioned, take the stairs whenever possible.
