Staying Consistent Through the Holidays

So it's time for the Terrible Threes (as far as fitness is concerned): Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years. It's a 6-8 week period of the year that's lead into by Halloween candy and is punctuated by legendary overeating on Thanksgiving and overdrinking on New Years. Unfortunately, most of us allow this time of year to get the best of our health and fitness and just let everything slide for a couple months.

That's definitely not cool.

So here are some tips to keep you consistent through the end of the year so you're not caught off guard by the New Year when things get back to normal:

Make exercise a priority

The gym is going to be closed only a few days of December (check here for more details), so if you're in town you should still attend your regular classes. But what if you're traveling? Time to work out can be difficult to find when you're visiting family across the country, but who said anything about *finding* time? You need to MAKE the time for your workouts. 

Simply putting aside 20 minutes to do some push ups, squats, and situps is a great option. Do you own a jumprope? Take it with you and spend 20 minutes a day practicing your double unders and every couple minutes, stop and do 15 burpees. Alternate between plank holds and jump squats for a quick burner, or use the walls of your hotel/in-law's house to practice your handstands.

Cheat on purpose

You're gonna eat some unhealthy, sugary, fatty, starchy goodies over the next month, so don't be weird about it. The problem is if you start going wild every day until the end of the year just because you had some pie on Thanksgiving. 

Eat and enjoy your holiday favorites, but realize that you cannot eat that way every day or you're going to be in for a rude surprise in a few weeks. Let yourself off the hook for a meal at a time, but not for an entire day, week, month, or season.

Know what's at stake

It's not the end of the world if you have a few bad meals over the next 6 weeks, but you need to know what's at stake here. You've worked so hard to gain strength, lose fat, and develop skills over the past year and it would be incredibly counterproductive to just throw it all away so you can pig out for a month and a half. 

Remind yourself of how good you'll feel when you come back from your vacations and are hitting the ground running in the new year instead of feeling off, heavy, and tired. Instead of spending January getting yourself back into the groove of working out, spend January working towards your goals and getting even more fit.

Edwin doesn't give up!

Today's Workout

3 rounds for time:

800m run
30 back rack lunges (95/65)
30 lateral burpees

Posted by Armen.