Surviving the Silly Season

After another crazy year, the silly season is on our doorstep once again. That means that your health and fitness routine is about to be challenged. But it doesn’t mean that it has to be upended. Here are four tips to help you to, not just survive, but thrive through the silly season.

Keep Your Health and Fitness on Track
During the silly season, it’s easy for our normal routine to go by the wayside. We get invited to parties, feel the temptation to have an extended vacation on the couch and find ourselves surrounded by all manner of tempting foods. Yet that doesn’t make it inevitable that the health and fitness routine you’ve worked hard to establish has to fall apart.

The key to maintaining your fitness habits through the Xmas period is to prioritise it in your mind. Make your workout time non-negotiable. Grab your weekly planner and block out your training sessions before anything else. Then fit in your other activities around them. 

You may want to get your workouts in early in the day. That way you’ll be done before the rest of the family are up and ready to go. You will then have the whole day in front of you to share with them.

Do Occasional Fasting
No matter how strict we try to be with our food intake over the silly season, it is inevitable that we’ll end up with a greater calorie intake than at any other time of year. By throwing in the occasional fasting day, you will be able to balance out your calorie intake so that, over the course of the week, your intake is close to what it would be any other time of the year.

You can either do a 24 hour fast once per week, from one evening to the next, or do a couple of 16-8 fasts, where you stop eating at 7pm and then skip the next day’s breakfast and begin eating at 11am. 

Enjoy Festive Celebrations Without Overdoing It
Maintaining your health and fitness goals during the holiday season will allow you to enjoy food that is part of festive celebrations. You can then enjoy your favorite foods guilt-free. But you still need to monitor yourself so that you don’t go overboard. 

One piece of chocolate cake is fine - three pieces is going to have a consequence. It may not add fat to your gut, but it will definitely make you feel unwell. When you’re used to eating healthy, it can be very tempting to go all in on carb rich foods that are usually taboo for you. But, because your body isn’t used to them, you’re bound to end up with digestive problems. By limiting yourself to a smaller portion, hover, you can enjoy the taste without suffering the pain. 

Practise Mindfulness
As well as your workouts, schedule in 10-15 minutes each morning to do some mindful meditation. This will allow you to be present in the moment, which will in turn, allow you to more fully appreciate and enjoy your holiday time. Mindfulness sessions will also keep you grounded during a time that can quickly get very crazy, so that you are calmer and more able to negotiate your way through a time which can be quite stressful. 

Wrap Up
Plan to incorporate these simple tips before the silly season kicks into high gear. That way, you will be prepared to handle the challenges and obstacles of this time of year without foregoing the good habits of the past 11 months.