4 Tips for Holiday Survival (and an Equipment Free Workout)

The holidays are officially here! I have been so busy with parties, gift shopping, and decorating its been a struggle to keep up with my usual food/gym schedule.  I know I'm not the only one though. Back in my coaching days, this was the time of year when the focus of my sessions switched from goal setting and progress to survival techniques. Clients were worried about sliding back to their starting point or felt like they were failing because they were splurging so much more than they thought they "should" be. The truth though? This is a tough season, especially for those who are trying to lose weight or maintain their activity levels.  
My best advice for holiday survival? Try switching your focus from progress to maintenance.

4 Tips for Holiday Survival
1. Make fitness a priority.
Try to maintain your normal workout schedule, but be sure to allow for some flexibility. Do you usually work out 5 days a week? Aim for that same amount, but allow yourself to modify the time of your workout or even the duration if needed. 

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2. Don't skip meals.
Many of us default to the “fasting and splurging” cycle around the holidays. It may seem like a good idea to save up all of your calories for the day for that holiday party you have scheduled tonight, but trust me its not. Skipping meals causes your blood sugar to plummets, your metabolism slows down, and your brain gets foggy. By the time that special meal rolls around your body is so hungry its telling your brain to eat everything in site and you wind up more likely to overeat (even more then the splurge you had planned for). Skip the hunger pains and just plan for lean yet filling meals before your special one. Trust me, your body (and your sanity) will thank you for it.

3. Practice self-love and positive self talk.
Spend some extra time checking in with your thoughts – are they positive or negative? If you’re noticing a lot more negative self talk popping up these days, know that you are not alone. It can be easy to fall into a cycle of negative self talk around the holidays. We’ve got a lot more going on then usual, and that can lead to less time for self care and more amounts of stress. Sometimes we wind up taking this stress out on ourselves. Maybe we’re frustrated because we ate all the cookies we baked for our office holiday party or maybe we’re upset because we missed a day at the gym. Whatever the thing is that you are berating yourself about, STOP, and ask yourself how you would handle a friend who was going through the same thing. Then treat yourself the same as you would that friend. The Mayo Clinic sums it up nicely with their one simple rule: “Don't say anything to yourself that you wouldn't say to anyone else.” Be nice to yourself, be encouraging, and most of all – allow yourself to be imperfect. Perfect is boring anyway.

4. Allow yourself to enjoy the holidays.
I wish this was a no brainer, but for most of us this is often the step that is forgotten most often. It can be so easy for us to get caught up with finding that perfect gift or baking the perfect pie or even having the cleanest house that we forget to really enjoy the season and all the happiness that it brings. This is our time to be with family, to fill ourselves up with love, and to give back to one another. Make yourself a promise that you will enjoy these moments rather then stressing about things that could have been better. Focus on the happy and just let the rest go. 

So go have a great holiday season!