The busy holiday season is approaching, and it’s precisely that busy-ness that makes us lose all track of our healthy lifestyles and fitness goals. We feel like there’s not time for a workout, or that meal prepping will be boring when fun food is around, or that this one extra treat/bite/slice/shot won’t hurt.
And then January comes, and we’re bummed.
Each of these projects will take 10 minutes or less, but you will definitely be glad you did them. Ready?
1. Try a home workout.
I have free video workouts here, and I also post new workouts almost daily on Tiny Fitness’s Instagram. YouTube is also full of workouts. You could make up your own. You could find a walking route you like. Do anything you want, but try out the workout this weekend so that you conquer the fear of the unknown, and see if you can even find one that’s 10 minutes or less (like mine are!) so that you will have no excuse for skipping it when things get busier.
2. Locate three healthy meals that you love.
Cook them and freeze them, buy them pre-made from the grocery store, or even stash some already-frozen meals in your freezer. Try something from a pre-made service like Snap Kitchen, or even locate a salad that can be delivered. The point is, get three healthy meals at-your-fingertips-ready so that you won’t “have to” eat two dozen rum balls for dinner in the coming weeks.
3. Plan ahead for your treats.
Whaaaat? In October?? Yep! You know what you love, and you know what you eat just because it’s there. What if you only ate the things you love this year? I bet you’d see no impact on your fitness progress, because we tend to savor the things that we love and overindulge in the things that we’re kind of meh about. If you love Reese’s pumpkins, tis the season! Mad for fruitcake? Put it on the list, then skip the cheesecake…or vice versa. Prefer an extra dinner roll over even the smallest sliver of pumpkin pie? Do what makes you happy! Write that list of favorite treats now and stick to your plan…you deserve the best, and someone else can eat all the weird coconut bars that one person brought into the office.
(Seriously, remember that you’re not a trash can, and you don’t have to eat something just because someone brought it to you. There are plenty of ways to say thank you and save it for later, even if “later” means the birds at the park. Don’t feel guilty. People who share things with you are trying to show you that they care about you, appreciate you, or want to include you in their celebration, and they wouldn’t want you to do anything that’s wrong for you. No one wants you to do anything that’s wrong for you.)
Need more tips? Download our free Holiday Survival Guide!
