4 Fitness Insiders Share Secrets to Staying Fit Over the Holidays
Everyone’s conscious about the holiday bloat so we reached out to fitness insiders on how to keep it together over the holidays. Here are our favourite tips:
If you typically exercise in the mornings before work, then don’t try and change that out of your holiday routine. Have a lie in if that’s what you miss out on during the non-holiday life, but still go on and do your morning exercise prior to getting on with the rest of your day. That way, it’s done and you can continue to go on about with the rest of your day!
Find consistency
You must have heard of the 80:20 rule and just because you’re on holiday it doesn’t mean you’re going to throw it out the window and YOLO 1:99! Sure, you’ve had a drink or two and maybe you’re going to have that one huge night… it isn’t the end of the world but try to get back into your routine as soon as you feel human again. Every day is a brand new day!
Go outdoors and rack up those steps! Walk instead of grabbing a taxi. Being on holiday often means you don’t have a rigid schedule to keep to and you can allow yourself more time to wander around and keep moving. Who knows what adventures you’ll find?
The holidays are a great time to refocus on quality sleep and getting a good night’s sleep results in better blood sugar management as you are more insulin sensitive. What constitutes a good sleep: falling asleep within 15 minutes, sleeping 7 – 8 hours through the night, waking up with energy and waking up without an alarm.
Start your day with a breakfast that’s high in protein and fats instead of sugar. This helps keep you satiated and also helps to manage your blood sugar throughout the day. A high spike in sugar early in the day always comes with a big drop in your energy levels. This turns into a good old chicken and egg dilemma as lowered energy also means the sweet treats look that much more enticing.
But if you’ve made a “non-ideal” meal choice, take a 20 minute walk post meal to lower inflammation levels. It’s also been shown that if you eat with good company and are relaxed, your blood sugar levels won’t spike as much. So don’t stress out over what you’re eating!
Lunges target the large muscle groups of your lower body. Increasing your muscle mass will positively affect your fat burning goal and boost metabolism.
This nomad's natural habitat is napping under a shady tree on the beach with a book clutched in hand. She likes fresh coconuts with a healthy splash of rum, organic conversations that meander into the night and getting lost in new places.
