The holidays are here again…and with them comes havoc for those of us that fight every single day to keep our weight down. Here are suggestions I hope may help you on your fitness journey. Note: these tips are for everyday of the year, but the holidays present more temptation and opportunity than any other time of the year to have “slips”.
I think we all know most of this stuff already, buy a reminder is never a bad idea.
- In the words of Nancy Reagan, JUST SAY NO. Over the next month you will be presented with endless candies, treats, desserts, pies, etc. It’s endless sugar and endless carbs. So everytime these are offered to you, you need to decide if you want to lose weight or enjoy something sweet.
- Weight loss and management shouldn’t be torture. In regard to the above tip, if you’re going to have a slip, make up your mind to limit how many slips you will have. The fewer the better (obviously).
- While we are now past Thanksgiving dinner, there will surely be more dinners coming up to celebrate the holidays. But let’s look at what is traditionally served at Thanksgiving dinner for reference, as upcoming celebrations won’t be much different. We have some cort of protein (good) mixed with mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes or yams, stuffing, maybe some corn, green beans (good) but embellished with other stuff, rolls, breads, pie, and so on. While it’s all delicious, it’s carbs, carbs, and more carbs. I’m not saying to not enjoy your host’s delicious offerings, but anything can be good in moderation. Take a half slice of pie. Take less of everything and eat SLOWLY.
- BE DETERMINED, NOT OBSESSED: We here at U-Turn Fitness are constantly encouraging people to get out and walk – walk as much as possible. HOWEVER, there are days like this current weekend in Mentor Ohio where it can be just plain dangerous to be outside. If you get sick or injured, your progress may be severaly impeded. Sometimes, we just need to forego our planned exercise. Instead, jump on the treadmill, elliptical, or even go mall walking. It’s not as enjoyable, you may even feel that you look silly, but options may be limited on bad weather days.
- WHEN EXCEPTIONS BECOME ROUTINE, THEY ARE CALLED HABITS. Deciding you’re too tired to get your steps in for the day, indulging in overeating or stopping to get a donut – these are all things that are fine ONCE IN A WHILE. When you find that you’re skipping exercise/footsteps more often than you aren’t skipping, or when you find that every other day you’re having a dessert, YOU HAVE A NEW BAD HABIT. Think of it this way – every now and then you have a day at work when you are pretty well unproductive but most days you are on task. Fitness and weight management are no different. You havce to do what needs to be done almost every single day.
- SKIP THE ALCOHOL. Enough said.
- SKIP THE WEED. If I ever run into someone who is more energetic from smoking weed I’ll be the first to admit I was wrong. For now, I’m recommending that you don’t partake.
- Don’t be OK with gaining 5 pounds in December and planning on working it off in January. If you’re reading this, you know as well as I do that you already needed January to shed more weight, not simply recover from from December’s gains. Besides, if you are a person that needs weight management, I think we all know that January may not end up being much different from December.
STAY ON TASK. Let’s get through these holidays with successful weight management and hit it even harder in January!
If you’re reading this and aren’t a member at U-Turn Fitness, PLEASE CONSIDER JOINING US.
