Get a Jump Start on Holiday Weight Gain
Although the Holidays aren’t officially here, there’s never a bad time to start planning ahead to maintain your healthy lifestyle. We hear it time and time again just as the New Year hits; flocks of people start looking into joining their local gym. Most with the mindset of whipping themselves into shape by the time the summer hits its full glory. We get it! We all want to look and feel good at the pool party, receive compliments at the barbeques and tell everyone about the hard work we put in to get into shape.
There’s something in all of us that desires that type of recognition and it feels good to know that all of your hard work has really paid off. We go along and we maintain these healthy habits all summer long and feel great for doing so. Yet, there appears to be a change in our psyche when the weather shifts back the other direction. As we enter into September and October and onto November those once 80 and 90 degree days disappear. We wake up in the morning to realize the high for the day is 39; it just does something to our motivation.
As the temperature continues to decline we become homebodies. We only leave the house for what we deem to be essential activities. We drop the kids off at school, go to work and swing by the grocery store all with the goal of getting home as soon as possible and out of the cold. As we do this we’re setting ourselves for another round of frantic workouts and crash diets come April when the weather starts to break again. Aside from it being a headache to have to go through every year; it’s not good for your health! We implore you to say, “Enough is Enough!”
- Plan Ahead
Instead of falling off the wagon make your mind up that this year will be the year you stick to it! Put your workouts on your calendar; schedule time for yourself and your health. Everything else is on your calendar why not put your workouts into your schedule? You have to plan because we all know the old saying, “Failing to plan is simply planning to fail”. By scheduling your workouts you’ll create a routine that will eventually become a habit that with time becomes a way of life. Wellness isn’t something you do in spurts; it’s a lifestyle.
- Buddy System
Find a couple of likeminded friends to exercise with on a regular basis. We suggest having a couple of friends available to exercise with because inevitably life happens! Someone has to stay late at work or has a sick child or becomes ill themselves. If you only have one buddy as part of your buddy system this could easily derail your motivation. You’ll also notice that you actually exercise harder when with a friend. There’s something to having someone else there encouraging you to do one more rep, add more weight or to go a little longer on the treadmill versus only the music pumping through your headphones. Accountability is key when using the buddy system.
- Join/Create a Competition
Nothing works better for your motivation like joining and/or creating your own Weight Loss/Strength Training/Exercise Competition. You can either join an official Weight Loss Competition such as RiverPlex Xtreme or create one at your office or amongst your family. The stakes don’t have to be high; the point is to become a better version of yourself and the bragging rights of course!
- Plan your meals
Learn this saying, “Eighty percent of your physique rests on your plate”. Plan your meals accordingly, just because the summer has come to an end and the holidays are on the way doesn’t mean you need to give up your healthy eating habits. When I say plan your meals I’m not referring to the guy on Instagram that takes pictures of his 15 meal prep containers filled with the exact same meal in every one. Seriously, who eats chicken breast, wild rice and broccoli for every meal for a whole week! Meal planning is different that meal prepping and even then; when done properly you can still have great variety. Meal planning is basically knowing what meal or two you’re going to cook for tomorrow and the next day. By knowing what you’re going to cook you can ensure you have all the proper ingredients, defrost the meat and maybe even prepare your side dishes. After a long day at work, helping kids with their homework and picking up around the house; most people don’t feel like preparing a full meal. However, if that particular meal were already planned all you would need to do is cook the meat and put it with the already prepared sides. Just a little bit if planning can go a long way!
However you decide to tackle this just know you can do it. You’ve proven it to yourself before. Now is the time to get and stay consistent. Challenge yourself to be better! Take ownership of your health, set obtainable goals and strive to crush every one of them! We’d love to help you along your journey.