Will your Fitness and Wellness Regimen Survive the Holiday Season?
Greetings 4am Fitness Crew.
This is where the rubber meets the road or more like, your palate colliding in one month with every savory temptation you have successfully navigated since January. For the first time in eleven months, you start to question your resolve.
You arrive home to your loving mom’s sinister smile. You should not be surprised. She has been purposefully planning to destroy your “weird” nutritional regimen ever since you cleverly escaped her July 4th trap with that mushroom burger. And your then-girlfriend added insult to injury by going on and on about your burger “crushing” your mom’s eighty-year-old family burger recipe. She crossed the line.
Your mom has been singularly focused on only two goals since July 4th:
Ensuring that you break up with “that woman.” Mission accomplished
Breaking you culinarily. Operation in progress
Is there any hope that your very successful fitness program will survive this well-planned gastronomic attack?
Unlike your most recent girlfriend, I am confident your fitness routine will survive Mom’s ruthlessness.
Tip #1. Do not stress
Why a season meant for joy is so stressful? For me, it is too many social engagements. Suffocating! I also dislike shopping. Traveling out of town is also a massive headache. But every one of those negatives also results in immense joy. I absolutely enjoy parties (once I “settle in”)– with the night usually ending with Jen gently pulling me out. I loathe shopping but nothing beats the appreciative hug from a loved one, and I have never regretted spending an out-of-town Christmas with cherished family and friends. The reality is - our holiday season fears usually don’t come to fruition.
I am confident you have not forgotten to pack your stress reduction techniques you practice at your 4am Fitness Crew hour. Deep breathing, yoga, meditation, and exercise, among others, are powerful tools to maintain your emotional equilibrium.
Tip #2. Maintain your Exercise Routine
With careful planning, you do not have to fall off the fitness wagon. Most hotels have gyms, and many have pools. If you are spending the holidays with family or friends or even at a vacation home – you will also have access to parks, gyms, and swimming pools. Many of these are community-based and therefore are very reasonable in cost – even for out-of-state residents.
Tip #3. Be Part of the Meal Planning Process
Your mom (really) loves you and wants you to be happy. She is totally confused with your flexitarian, vegetarian, paleo lifestyle – but she is willing to work with you to ensure that everyone is happy at her Christmas dinner.
You can send her a recipe or two in advance – maybe even the ingredients. If you are like me and love to cook, you can join Mom in the kitchen in preparing the Christmas meal. She will be overjoyed. Nothing bonds mother and son like preparing Christmas dinner together.
The easiest route might be to simply pre-order an entrée, or a dish to add to the main course and dessert. I guarantee your meal contributions will turn skeptics into believers.
Tip #4. Watch the Snack Attack
Grazing is my #1 holiday season wellness challenge. I control my portions, I exercise, I … “Really, I ate that whole can of cocktail peanuts in the first quarter?”. Those calories, along with sugar, and salt (intake) tend to pile up quickly. Apply portion rules to snacks similarly as you do to your regular meals.
Tip #5. Portion Moderation
Portion rules apply to all dietary preferences. It is not healthy to mountain pile your plate at serving #2 with tofu turkey, vegan-gluten-free mac & cheese, and lightly stir-fried brown rice. You are no healthier than your mountain-plate pile-high carnivorous siblings. You - OK, we all are disgustingly greedy! I have often been part of that “disgustingly greedy” posse so … 😊
Tip #6. Eat a healthy breakfast
One of my holiday travel rules is to have full control over at least one meal a day. That meal is almost always breakfast. My dietary focus here is fiber-rich foods like fruits, granola, oatmeal, seeds - flax and chia, sunflowers, and pumpkins being my favorites. I grind the seeds and add them liberally to cold granola cereal or hot oatmeal for breakfast. Click for my “So Easy So Healthy Oatmeal Breakfast Recipe.”
Why fiber? Because, despite my best efforts I eat more sugary foods, snack more, and even enjoy fried foods. Don't hate on me - I am a work in progress.
Science has affirmed the benefits of fiber for those of us who missed the healthy eating mark during the holidays. Some of these benefits are: “Lower risk for developing coronary heart disease, stroke, hypertension, diabetes, obesity, and certain gastrointestinal diseases. Increasing fiber intake lowers blood pressure and serum cholesterol levels. Increased intake of soluble fiber improves glycemia and insulin sensitivity in non-diabetic and diabetic individuals. Fiber supplementation in obese individuals significantly enhances weight loss. Increased fiber intake benefits a number of gastrointestinal disorders including the following: gastroesophageal reflux disease, duodenal ulcer, diverticulitis, constipation, and hemorrhoids.” (PMID: 19335713)
Tip #7. Drink More Water and Less Alcohol and Soda
Drinking water is essential to your liver’s detoxification. Drinking alcohol is detrimental to your liver. Also, that one can of soda adds a substantial amount of empty sugar calories. Other than the liver negatives, alcohol also appears to open up our appetites, making even “moderate alcohol consumption a risk factor in obesity.” (PMID: 14557794)
Bonus Tip.
If you have failed miserably with the above seven or have even been moderately compromised – ok, all of us – click here for my “After Holiday Season Detox Smoothie.”
The above seven plus the Bonus Tip has served me well. The tips have ensured I have maintained my fitness and overall wellness lifestyle while enjoying the laughter and love of the holiday season.
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