11 Holiday Fitness Tips To Stay on Track and Avoid Weight Gain

Happy Holidays to you and yours! For weeks, you have tracked your food intake and exercised regularly to get healthier, lose weight, improve your overall health and wellness. For some individuals, you have been working really hard on getting into the best shape of your life!

But now, we are just a few weeks before the start of a new year and you have the second biggest holiday event still upon the horizon, and you’re not sure if you’re going to make it and still have fun during the holidays. Well, I’ve come up with some tips that can help you stay on track without compromising your goals! These are just some of the health, fitness, wellness and nutrition tips that I, as well as my clients, have found to be very beneficial over the years and I hope you will also.

By following some, if not all of my fitness tips, my hope is that you will still stay on track with getting in your workouts, making positive choices and to if not lose weight during the next few weeks, then to at least maintain your current weight.

Stick To Your Goals
Sounds simple enough, but is it? You’ve made it through every other holiday, including Thanksgiving, 4th of July and Easter, and you’ve managed to overcome all (or most) temptations as well as second helpings before. But this time it’s a little different. Holiday parties, office parties, kids coming home for winter break. Some people might even have one to two weeks off with nothing to do but have fun and eat!

You will be faced with challenges every day, so if you don’t have a plan of action it can cause you weeks (even months), of hard-earned success to be derailed. You’ve stayed focused and strong so far, so don’t let this holiday be the one that breaks you. Whatever your goals are for this month, if you want to achieve them bad enough, make sure you follow these 11 fitness tips below!

Tip #1 – Put It in Writing
Write down your goals and tag them everywhere (wherever you need the motivation). At your desk, make it a goal board, post your goals on sticky notes, as a screen saver on all your electrical gadgets like your phone, laptop, desktop and iPad. By keeping your goals in the forefront of your thoughts, you’ll be less inclined to do things or eat certain foods that you’ll feel sorry for later on.

Tip #2 – Stay Hydrated
Regardless of whether you drink alcohol or not, staying well hydrated works on several levels, especially when it comes to holidays because it can help control your appetite. Drink one cup of lemon water or apple cider vinegar water 2-3 times a day to give you a little boost of energy. It also helps to flavor your water (if you don’t like the taste of plain water), and can help decrease your appetite.

Tip #3 – When You Fail To Plan, You’re Planning To Fail!
It’s true. If you don’t plan for events, such as parties, company parties or family get-togethers, don’t be surprised that you’ve managed to put on a few extra pounds and your clothes may feel a little tighter. Planning means that if your company party is at a restaurant that you’ve never been to, go online and check out their menu so that you’re able to make a healthier choice once you get there. What if your best friend has surprised you with your favorite dessert and forgot that you’re trying to decrease your body fat? Because she is a great friend, just have a little piece to satisfy your initial craving but don’t feel obligated to eat the whole thing right at that moment.

Tip #4 – Get Your Workouts In
No excuses! You know you need to get your workouts in! Don’t make friends, family or festivities get in the way of all your progress and hard work of all the months, weeks and days past. It’s easier to schedule your workouts than to sit around regretting the extra weight that you’ve gained over the past few weeks.

Tip #5 – Limit or Eliminate Alcohol Consumption
You know that alcohol is not good for you and you know that alcohol is full of empty calories, has no known nutritional value and can easily bulk up your caloric intake without even trying. So I’m only going to say to try to limit and/or eliminate all alcohol consumption and keep your caloric intake as “clean” as possible.

Tip #6 – Bring a Little Bit of Home With You
Keep emergency snacks with you at work and in your car. Keep nuts, protein powder, meal replacement powder or shakes (pre-made) easily accessible in your car and at your desk. Bring fruits, vegetables, egg whites and nuts from home and place them in your office desk or in your gym bag. This will keep you from driving to the nearest fast food drive-thru and ordering something that you’ll probably regret later.

Tip #7 – Add in Extra Steps
When shopping or running around town, strap on your pedometer and get in some extra steps by parking farther away in the parking lot. Walking briskly through the mall and taking those extra stairs (not the escalator or ramps) can really help also. Those little changes can make a big difference in your day as well as total calories burned. Bonus for you!

Tip #8 – No Time To Workout?
Nonsense! We all have the same 24 hours in a day, it’s just that some people are so motivated to train that they’ll schedule they’re workout into their busy day. No time for the gym or your trainer? Have your trainer design a workout that you’ll be able to do from home, or pop in a great workout DVD such as Insanity, Zumba, TurboFire or P90X. You can also use any of the great HIIT workouts or just lace up your shoes and go for a run, jog or a brisk walk for 15-20 minutes two times a day. This works twofold. For one, you’re able to get in your workout, burn some calories and fat and of course feel great. The second reason is that you’ll be able to clear your mind and come back to the office with more clarity and focus.

Tip #9 – Tis The Season for Sharing
Don’t hang out by the food! Mingle and make it a truly memorable time meeting new people and catching up with others in a non-work environment. You’ll find yourself eating less as you mingle and shine at all holiday get-togethers.

Tip #10 – Slow Down
Focus on taking your time while eating. It’s not a race to see who can finish first, so slow down! Enjoying your time with those who mean the most to you is more important than the tasty foods being served so enjoy the experience and be present. Slow down, savor your food and live in the moment. Don’t just eat and devour food that you really don’t like. If you’re not sure you’ll like something you’ve never had before, just take a little spoonful to taste it. If it’s yummy, awesome! You’ve discovered something new to add to your food list and if it’s not, then don’t finish it and don’t allow someone to make you feel obligated to eat it. This will help you to eat less, giving you a greater feeling of fullness and you’ll be able to stride into the new year with little to no additional weight gain.

Tip #11 – Keep Your Eyes on The Prize!
Remember the end game! The prize is a healthier, fitter, leaner, stronger and happier you!

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