I am so excited to have a special guest for you today! Her name is Ivanna (visiting from Ivanna Marie) and she is here to talk to you about staying fit over the holidays. As you know October begins the season of a lot of holiday eating (like indulging in your favorite Halloween candy – or is that just me?)
Anyway….you are going to find this advice so helpful!
Take it away Ivanna!
Thank you so much, Serena, for letting me take over your blog today, I’m so excited to be here!
Hello, everyone! As you know the holidays are fast approaching. A time of year when it seems people put their exercise routines and healthy eating habits on the back burner. I know, it can be so tempting to do so! Today I want to share with you some tips to stay motivated to eat mindfully and exercise during the holidays.
4 Simple Tips to Stay Fit During the Holidays
1. Remember why you started.
The first thing I want you to do is to remember why you started. Think about all of the hard work you put in over the course of this year to stay fit. You don’t want to let all of that hard work go for a couple of months of pleasure. Yes, it is important to enjoy yourself and your family during the holidays but you can still do this while maintaining your healthy lifestyle.
Do this by trying to fit in a workout before your day gets busy. Also, pass on the second servings of food and desserts. You will thank yourself in the long run.
2. Be prepared.
Being prepared is a vital part of staying motivated and staying fit during the holidays. When you have your exercise routine planned out, your music playlist ready and workout clothes picked out, you will be more motivated to go through with your plan. The opposite is true if you didn’t have a plan at all.
To prepare myself for success, I like to lay out my workout clothes the night before. This way, all I have to do is jump out of bed, throw on my clothes, brush my teeth and go. I often have my workouts over and done with before anyone in my house has even woken up.
3. Have a plan.
This tip is very important because if a person does not have a plan, they often get off track and give up. I suggest that everyone heading to the gym or even to workout at home, take the time to pre-plan their workouts.
You can do this by simply identifying which areas you want to focus on and listing exercises that will target that area. Something I like to do is, on Sundays I use a calendar and I will write down all of my workouts for the week and which day I will do them. This helps me to eliminate the excuse of not knowing what to do that day. Write a plan, schedule it and stick to your schedule.
4. Have a purpose.
My final but probably most important tip is to, have a purpose. I believe that purpose creates passion. If you have a purpose for why you are working out, and why you want to stay fit during the holidays, you will more likely do it. Before you start your next workout, sit down and identify your purpose for working out. Is it to lose weight? Is it to get fit enough to run a race? Is it to fight a disease? All of these are examples of purpose and I believe when you reflect on your purpose daily, it will motivate you to stick to your workout routine.
In my case, I know that I want to tone up and stay in shape over the holidays. I also know that I want to be healthy and be around for my family for a long time to come. All of these PURPOSES give me the motivation and passion for doing another workout. Identify your purpose, reflect on it and let it motivate you.
I hope these tips will help motivate you to stay healthy, happy and fit, over the upcoming holiday season.
What’s your favorite way to stay healthy during the holidays?
About the Author
Ivanna is the creator and author of Ivanna Marie, a lifestyle and healthy living blog that inspires you to live healthy, happy + free! She is a follower Christ, a wife, a mother, a certified trainer and a passionate coffee drinker.
It’s hard to stay fit during the Holidays because it’s the time of the year where everyone is having a feast and that means more food prepared in the table. There’s no better way to enjoy this season with family and friends but eating good meals with them. No matter how hard it is, there will always be a way to stay fit and healthy at this time. It’s just a matter of discipline.
You are so right. I personally don’t think about the eating part, I focus on the family time. And discipline is a huge part of it!