How Can I Continue Working Out During The Holidays?

How can I continue working out during the Holidays?

Hurray, the season of all things pumpkin, nutmeg, and cranberries is here!

With the cooler temperatures and beautiful changing color leaves (depending where you live of course!), come a million and one excuses to not make exercise a priority.  Couple that with all of those yummy holiday treat temptations, and you are in for a fit lifestyle meltdown!  It doesn’t have to be this way. With a little dedication and proper planning, sticking to your exercise routine can be done during the holiday season. Here’s how:

Make exercise a PRIORITY. If that means that you have to pencil it in, schedule it, give yourself an alert or two on your iPhone, do it!  Make sure you tell visiting family members that you’ll be working out for an hour. Better yet, invite them to come along! Fitness programs such as Baby Boot Camp encourage families to workout together. Schedule your shopping time AFTER your workout. You’ll be in a much better mood anyway to deal with holiday mall crowds after you’ve released some feel good, post workout endorphins! If you absolutely have to skip your workout, say due to the pre-school holiday talent show, make sure you get right back on track either later in the day or the next day! Remember, exercise should be a lifestyle; it’s what you do all the time. It’s not something that you partake in every now and then when the holidays aren’t around.

Register for a holiday race. How about preparing for holiday festivities with a Turkey Trot? Or a Jingle Run? All across the country, there are hundreds of races on Thanksgiving morning and throughout December. Most of these races are of the shorter 5K and 10K distances making them just enough to get a workout in but still let you enjoy the party. Registering for one of these races also gives you a goal to work for during the holidays and keeps you accountable. Here’s a glimpse of several of the Baby Boot Camp Katy ladies that ran in the 2012 YMCA Turkey Dash on Thanksgiving morning last year.  Each of them went on to complete their first half marathon shortly thereafter! 

Shop Early. So maybe you can’t get away from all of the holiday gatherings and visitors, but maybe you can shop early.  A little preparation and planning goes a long way during the holiday season. Having a list and a plan should make for easier and stress free shopping, and should leave your exercise time slot untouched. You’ll save a few bucks and a few pounds!

Don’t let the joy of the holiday season derail your fitness plans. You’ve worked hard throughout the entire year so why stop now? If you can stick with it during the Holidays, you can be fit for a new year!