Email to a friendFit tips for the holidays
It's the end of the month but some of the greatest gorging may lie ahead. Use these 10 tips from celebrity fitness trainer Kim Lyons to minimize the damage
December 23, 2008
Right now, you are navigating what is, without question, the toughest time of the year to keep fit. Many places around the country, the weather is keeping you indoors - upsetting your routine and sapping you of motivation. But everyone has to contend with odd hours, lots of travel and lots - and lots - of bad food. Here are 10 bare-bones tips that you can use to get through the holiday craze without suffering a complete backslide in your routine.
1 Expect to stay on your program over the holidays?
"Fail to plan and you plan to fail" is a time worn and cliched statement, but it's still some of the best success advice you will ever hear.
Not only do most people fail to plan, they consciously plan to fail over the holidays. Most people expect to "blow" their diet and skip workouts over the holidays. They expect to eat more, to exercise less and to gain weight. As a result, they don't even make the effort. Instead of taking control, they resign themselves to maintenance at best, or back-sliding at worst. This negative expectancy leads to a self-fulfilling prophecy. By the first week of January, they're in the worst shape they've been in for a year and they frantically make New Year's resolutions to shed the excess fat they've gained.
>> You can avoid this trap by planning to succeed. Set up a positive expectation. Resolve now that you will not tolerate slipping backwards. Keep your standards up and don't settle. Not only can you plan to "stay in shape" over the holidays, you can plan to improve. All you have to do is make the decision and expect success.
2 Plan all of your workouts in advance
You know your schedule is going to get hectic over the holidays. You'll be cooking, shopping, wrapping gifts, sending cards, going to parties, traveling, visiting family, and so on. To stay on your training and nutrition regimen is definitely going to take some sound time management skills.
>> Plan your schedule in advance. Anticipate what's coming up. Write it down. Put it on your calendar. By doing so, you won't be caught unprepared. Use a schedule book or monthly calendar and "make appointments" for all of your workouts for the next few weeks in advance. Then, post a copy where you will be forced to look at it every day. This is a powerful exercise that will keep you focused and force you to think about and prepare for each upcoming workout.
>> Learn how to keep your own workout journal by clicking here.
3 Set some compelling training and fitness goals over the holiday period?
Don't wait until January 1st to set your goals just because you think it will be harder to achieve them over the holidays. On the contrary, studies on personal achievement have shown that you'll usually reach 80% of the goals you put onto paper. The problem is that few people set any goals at all, and fewer still set them during the holidays.
>> Why wait? Why not do it now? Set some big goals that you can start working on during the holidays: --Set a goal to lose the 25 pounds you've always wanted to lose
--Set the goal to gain 10 pounds of solid muscle
--Been contemplating a competition in fitness or figure? Pick an early spring show and just go for it! Start training now!
Goal setting should not be a once a year affair, it should be a continuous process. You should always have your goals in writing and your list should be regularly updated and rewritten. If you only set goals once a year, you're not going to accomplish much in your life.
4 Schedule "cheat days" >br> A planned "cheat day" helps you to stay on your program better in the long run. If you're too strict all the time, you're setting yourself up for cravings and bingeing.
One cheat meal per week will have only a minor effect on your physique. If you've been on a strict, low-carb and/or low-calorie regimen, a cheat meal might actually be good for you. It will boost your metabolic rate and give your body the signal that you're not starving and that it's ok to keep burning a lot of calories.
>> Over the holidays, schedule your dinners and parties so they fall on your cheat day. Then, on the other days of the week, be steadfast. Just the fact that you know you have a cheat day coming up will relieve the pressure of staying on a strict diet for a long time.
Also, when you do have your cheat meal, enjoy it! If you're going to eat it and feel guilty, then don't have it at all. If you've stayed with the program all week long, then when cheat day rolls around, you deserve it.
5 If you fall off the wagon, get right back on it?
So you had about a dozen too many of those Christmas cookies did you? Don't worry -because you have cheat days built into your plan, you shouldn't let guilt immobilize you. Even if you fall completely off the wagon, don't beat yourself up. All you have to do is get right back on your program without missing another beat.
Too many people mess up once and then think their entire diet is ruined. They feel as if everything they've done prior to that day was wasted and there's no sense going on. Or even worse, they rationalize to themselves, "Well, I already cheated, so it doesn't matter now, I might as well keep pigging out."
That's nonsense. If you threw in the towel every time you didn't score 100% on your diet, most people would never get through more than a few days on any structured program. Just because you mess up once doesn't mean you should quit! You're only human.
>> Don't let one small slip keep you derailed. Firmly plant your wheels back on the tracks and start rolling again.
>> Find out how to get back on the wagon quickly by clicking here.
6 Maintain your consistent eating schedule
If there's one thing that all people who successfully get lean and stay lean have in common, it's consistency. Without it, you never get any momentum going. It's like taking two steps forward, only to take three steps back.
Many people allow the busy holidays to throw them off their regular eating schedule. They completely veer off their usual five or six small meals per day, or they start eating foods they would normally never eat. Why? Because it's there, of course.
You have to keep your metabolic engine revving all year round. Once you have it going, it's fairly easy to keep it going. But once you lose it, it's very difficult to get it going again because you must overcome inertia all over again. (An object at rest tends to stay at rest!)
>> On the major holidays, when there's a big dinner scheduled, many people think that skipping their morning and afternoon meals to "save room" for the big one later is a good idea. It's not. This is a sure-fire way to invite a binge that could set your back for days. Don't lose your consistency or your momentum. Continue with your pattern of eating small, frequent meals all year round. All you have to do is count your holiday dinners as one of your regular meals and keep them small.
1 Expect to stay on your program over the holidays?
"Fail to plan and you plan to fail" is a time worn and cliched statement, but it's still some of the best success advice you will ever hear.
Not only do most people fail to plan, they consciously plan to fail over the holidays. Most people expect to "blow" their diet and skip workouts over the holidays. They expect to eat more, to exercise less and to gain weight. As a result, they don't even make the effort. Instead of taking control, they resign themselves to maintenance at best, or back-sliding at worst. This negative expectancy leads to a self-fulfilling prophecy. By the first week of January, they're in the worst shape they've been in for a year and they frantically make New Year's resolutions to shed the excess fat they've gained.
>> You can avoid this trap by planning to succeed. Set up a positive expectation. Resolve now that you will not tolerate slipping backwards. Keep your standards up and don't settle. Not only can you plan to "stay in shape" over the holidays, you can plan to improve. All you have to do is make the decision and expect success.
2 Plan all of your workouts in advance
You know your schedule is going to get hectic over the holidays. You'll be cooking, shopping, wrapping gifts, sending cards, going to parties, traveling, visiting family, and so on. To stay on your training and nutrition regimen is definitely going to take some sound time management skills.
>> Plan your schedule in advance. Anticipate what's coming up. Write it down. Put it on your calendar. By doing so, you won't be caught unprepared. Use a schedule book or monthly calendar and "make appointments" for all of your workouts for the next few weeks in advance. Then, post a copy where you will be forced to look at it every day. This is a powerful exercise that will keep you focused and force you to think about and prepare for each upcoming workout.
>> Learn how to keep your own workout journal by clicking here.
3 Set some compelling training and fitness goals over the holiday period?
Don't wait until January 1st to set your goals just because you think it will be harder to achieve them over the holidays. On the contrary, studies on personal achievement have shown that you'll usually reach 80% of the goals you put onto paper. The problem is that few people set any goals at all, and fewer still set them during the holidays.
>> Why wait? Why not do it now? Set some big goals that you can start working on during the holidays: --Set a goal to lose the 25 pounds you've always wanted to lose
--Set the goal to gain 10 pounds of solid muscle
--Been contemplating a competition in fitness or figure? Pick an early spring show and just go for it! Start training now!
Goal setting should not be a once a year affair, it should be a continuous process. You should always have your goals in writing and your list should be regularly updated and rewritten. If you only set goals once a year, you're not going to accomplish much in your life.
4 Schedule "cheat days" >br> A planned "cheat day" helps you to stay on your program better in the long run. If you're too strict all the time, you're setting yourself up for cravings and bingeing.
One cheat meal per week will have only a minor effect on your physique. If you've been on a strict, low-carb and/or low-calorie regimen, a cheat meal might actually be good for you. It will boost your metabolic rate and give your body the signal that you're not starving and that it's ok to keep burning a lot of calories.
>> Over the holidays, schedule your dinners and parties so they fall on your cheat day. Then, on the other days of the week, be steadfast. Just the fact that you know you have a cheat day coming up will relieve the pressure of staying on a strict diet for a long time.
Also, when you do have your cheat meal, enjoy it! If you're going to eat it and feel guilty, then don't have it at all. If you've stayed with the program all week long, then when cheat day rolls around, you deserve it.
5 If you fall off the wagon, get right back on it?
So you had about a dozen too many of those Christmas cookies did you? Don't worry -because you have cheat days built into your plan, you shouldn't let guilt immobilize you. Even if you fall completely off the wagon, don't beat yourself up. All you have to do is get right back on your program without missing another beat.
Too many people mess up once and then think their entire diet is ruined. They feel as if everything they've done prior to that day was wasted and there's no sense going on. Or even worse, they rationalize to themselves, "Well, I already cheated, so it doesn't matter now, I might as well keep pigging out."
That's nonsense. If you threw in the towel every time you didn't score 100% on your diet, most people would never get through more than a few days on any structured program. Just because you mess up once doesn't mean you should quit! You're only human.
>> Don't let one small slip keep you derailed. Firmly plant your wheels back on the tracks and start rolling again.
>> Find out how to get back on the wagon quickly by clicking here.
6 Maintain your consistent eating schedule
If there's one thing that all people who successfully get lean and stay lean have in common, it's consistency. Without it, you never get any momentum going. It's like taking two steps forward, only to take three steps back.
Many people allow the busy holidays to throw them off their regular eating schedule. They completely veer off their usual five or six small meals per day, or they start eating foods they would normally never eat. Why? Because it's there, of course.
You have to keep your metabolic engine revving all year round. Once you have it going, it's fairly easy to keep it going. But once you lose it, it's very difficult to get it going again because you must overcome inertia all over again. (An object at rest tends to stay at rest!)
>> On the major holidays, when there's a big dinner scheduled, many people think that skipping their morning and afternoon meals to "save room" for the big one later is a good idea. It's not. This is a sure-fire way to invite a binge that could set your back for days. Don't lose your consistency or your momentum. Continue with your pattern of eating small, frequent meals all year round. All you have to do is count your holiday dinners as one of your regular meals and keep them small.
