Manage Holiday Mania, Part 2: Keeping Your Physical Health in Check

Don’t let your fitness goals crumble during the holidays. Here’s how to maintain your physical health and feel great all season long!

In Part 1 of this series, I mentioned that to relieve some holiday stress it might be helpful to plan some of your visits and gatherings earlier in the month.

If you have work parties to attend, or cookie exchanges, kids’ class parties, church celebrations, and/or split families or lots of friends wanting to get together, then you have a lot of massive meals, decadent desserts, and luscious eggnog drinks ahead of you, don’t you?

This is no time to start a calorie restricting diet, or ANY depriving regimen. This is no time to force yourself to hit the gym for an hour 5 days a week.

And, by the way….you don’t need to do either of those things EVER.

So, what do you do? How can you keep your physical health in check during this food crazed season? How can you maintain the physique you work so hard for all year when bustling around town, your house, and parties has you wanting only to hit the bath and bed at the end of the day and hit snooze over and over in the morning?

It’s so tempting to say, “Eh, I’ll just forget about working out for a while. There’s no time. And the food and goodies are always so good, I’m not going to deprive myself. I’ll get back into a routine after the new year starts.” 

But, will you?

I used to feel that way. I would simply allow myself to indulge through the whole month of December, from one party to another one. I’d tell myself that if I could fit in one long run during the week, that would suffice, and I could eat whatever I want. After New Year’s Day I would make a resolution to get back in shape.

But what really happened for many years was that I went from festivity to festivity feeling anxious about food. I stared at table after table torn, longing to gobble it all down and at the same time longing to RUN away.

If people just wouldn’t cook so much yummy food. And why couldn’t I exert more willpower?

I wished I had severe food allergies to make me resist all the temptations. I wished I had run every morning instead of sleeping in.

When the new year passed I always found it really hard to get back into working out and eating right. I felt bloated, frumpy, lazy and unmotivated. Then I would beat myself up for letting my physical health go.

What I discovered was that unleashing myself was NOT the answer. It made me miserable. It didn’t help me enjoy the holidays or festivities any more. My thoughts about it were all wrong.

BUT, I’ve figured out how to BALANCE and MODERATE INDULGENCE. That’s the key!

AND YOU CAN, TOO! That’s what this post is all about.

This is Part 2 of “Manage Holiday Mania—A 4 Part Series to Help You Hone in on a Happy Holiday Mindset”. If you haven’t read the first post in the series, “Part 1: Getting Mentally Prepared”, you can click through that link now. There’s another link at the end that will bring you right back here when you finish. 

Or….

I combined the four posts into ONE great Holiday Survival Guide that you can download now and have all the tips and strategies at your fingertips right away. Just click the link below.

Download “Manage Holiday Mania: A FREE Holiday Survival Guide“

Staying here??

Part 2 continued….

Eating Well Through the Holidays and Keeping Your Physical Health in Check

First, you’ve got to remind yourself that although it may feel like it, you are not in need of constant nibbles. Perhaps you’ll be extra busy, but snacking all day long won’t keep you going.

You ARE an active human in need of good nutrition and lasting energy all year long and especially during hectic holidays. 

And you need a game plan! Here is some help with that.

Tips for parties, gatherings and meals:

• Eat a little something that’s healthy before you go so you won’t just eat the first things you see. You’ll feel content to scan the choices for special picks. I always make sure my son and I both munch on a carrot or an apple on our way to any gatherings. I feel better knowing we aren’t walking in starving, and he gets more free reign since he had something healthy first.
• Keep your home stocked with lots of fresh fruits, veggies and other healthy ingredients for meals and alternatives to avoid mindless snacking. You have the most control here.
• Don’t feel obligated to eat or to try everything. You can be choosy! (Reread Part 1 of this series if you need help with feeling obligated.) Let a host know how warm, inviting and beautifully decorated her home is. She’ll know you enjoyed yourself; you don’t have to pat a bloated belly to show your satisfaction as you leave and hug good-bye.
• Remember and focus on how you want to feel during this season. (See Part 1, again…) Spend time connecting with others, ask lots of questions, look for special decorations around the room, volunteer to read a Christmas story to the kids, see if anyone wants to go for a walk outside, get some dancing started or a Christmas song sing-along. Think outside the “food” box for some creative entertainment.
• If you have multiple parties in one day, choose one indulgent meal and stick with lots of fruits and vegetables at the other. This is a good idea for vacationing, too.
• Bring your own healthy dish or two. Make and take a beautiful, colorful salad with fresh greens, cranberries, chopped almonds, carrots, green onions and celery. Swap the greens for red or green cabbage or broccoli (or include all three) that you’ve slightly steamed and cooled. Or what about a fresh berry salad topped with whipped coconut cream? Experiment with healthier versions of some holiday favorites, and when you find a winner make multiples to take to various parties.
• If you’re a constant nibbler in the kitchen, purchase food rather than cook or bake. Then you can really enjoy the final product without feeling like you overindulged.
• Pass on treats that you have all the time. Choose special treats that you look forward to this time of year, or decide to try something new. 
• Watch out for punches, eggnogs and mixed drinks that might be filled with sugar and artificial ingredients. Drink a large glass of water before you go, and then stick with sparkling water with berries or a splash of real fruit juice, unsweetened tea, one cup of cider, or even one cup of hot cocoa made with real cocoa powder and honey instead of sugar. Take along your favorite essential oils to add to plain water, like lemon, orange or grapefruit.
• If you want a more spirited drink, opt for a cranberry martini, vodka soda, or gin and tonic. One Father-In-Love makes a wonderful, simple Salty Dog with fresh-squeezed Ruby Red grapefruit and vodka. I love to make mojitos with fresh limes, mint leaves, sparkling water and a splash of juice and nix the simple syrup and mojito mix. I also make healthier homemade eggnog. You can find healthier recipes for drinks just as easily as for meals.
• Say no thank you to offers for left-overs, unless it’s a super-healthy dish. What other things could you just say no thank you to so you can keep your physical health in check?
• If you are hosting, keep the food in the kitchen, and keep the table inviting with bountiful beauty and invigorating conversation to help everyone stay focused on the spirit of your gathering.
• Give yourself grace when you do overindulge. Don’t beat yourself up. Think of how you can balance your overindulgence with a lighter next meal, a good long walk, and a plan for better moderation the next day. Recallibrate with your physical health goals.

Fitting in Exercise During the Holidays to Maintain Your Physical Health

Let go of perfection and rigidity. This is good practice year-round in every area of life, but especially when facing a stressful season. 

Instead embrace maintenance and flexibility. 

Keep your goal to maintain your body and health with focuses on enjoying the holidays and life and feeling good about yourself. Let go of the goal to make it to daily spin classes plus 30 minute weight lifting sessions at the gym every week to shed 20 pounds by Christmas. 

This is a season of unknowns and opportunities. 

What if you have a goal to hit the gym hard five days a week? Circumstances may present themselves, such as invitations to parties, unexpected visitors, kids with colds, you with a cold. How will you keep up with daily gym sessions? 

Will you beat yourself up if you don’t make it? And you probably won’t if opportunities arise. 

Can you be satisfied with a daily brisk walk or basic body weight workout in your bedroom? 

These activities are easier to commit to and will keep you in shape and feeling good about yourself. 

More tips for maintaining your fitness:

• Daily brisk walks and/or simple body weight workouts can be highly effective!
• Meet up with a friend for the walks if you need the social part or accountability, or chat on the phone with that long-distance relative who won’t make it to the family Christmas party.
• Seek out physical activities that energize you and don’t deplete you. Your energy levels may wax and wane this time of year. Engage in activities that help you feel stronger and more confident and don’t wear you out or break your body down.
• Certainly plan to exercise and try to maintain your usual routine. BUT allow yourself to be flexible and open to opportunities the season may offer. 
• Switch evening workouts to mornings, or vice-versa, if it makes more sense for a while. If you usually have off days—say you work out M-W-F—plan a brisk walk EVERY day so that if something comes up Wednesday and you miss your usual workout, you’ll still be maintaining with your brisk walks and won’t get upset with yourself for missing or feel pressured to make up for it Thursday when you want to stay away from the gym like usual.
• Test out some exercise equipment while you’re out Christmas shopping.

Tips for fitting in exercise while hosting visitors or while being a guest in another person’s home: 

• Let a family member lead you through a new type of workout, or offer to show them some beginner moves of your favorite workouts. 
• Make use of times you’re alone, like doing squats and lunges in the bathroom while brushing your teeth, blowing your hair dry, showering, or even for a minute after you flush. When you take a phone call in the other room or outside pace the floor, hold a wall squat, do one-arm wall push-ups. 
• Get everyone out for a walk, start a dance party, plan a trip to a skating rink. Find a neighborhood you can walk around safely to see Christmas lights.
• Talk about your desires and why it’s important to you to keep moving during the holidays. You might inspire someone else to start taking better care of themselves, too.

Your fitness goals don’t have to go out the window during the holidays. You don’t have to resign from healthy habits and wait until the new year comes to try to get back in shape. 

Focus on balance, moderation, maintenance, flexibility and most of all enjoyment of the holiday season. Empower yourself, get creative, and look for ways to work around circumstances and obstacles. 

You CAN maintain your body and health and feel good about yourself all season long! 

What tips are you going to take away from this post? What other ideas do you have to share?

Let me know in the comments or send me a private email message.

Remember you can download the whole series in one awesome Holiday Survival Guide right HERE.

Links to three more posts in this series:

1: “Managing Your Holiday Mindset”

3: “Balancing Emotions and Mental Stability”

4: “Dealing with the Actual Holidays and People”

Thanks for reading!

Live, love and be well!

Jen