10 Top tips for staying fit and healthy over Christmas
By Martin Ebner, Personal trainer and sports nutrition specialist.
In this Article:
» Eat before heading out
» Workout in the morning
» Treat yourself (a little)
» Take a Multivitamin
» Avoid skipping meals
» Build some muscle
» Stick to your routine
» Winter sports
» Be realistic
» Drink in moderation
» H20
With Christmas fast approaching, boundless year-end social events, hangovers, mince pies, and mulled wine could all soon become an almost regular occurrence. With so many temptations on and around your oversized plater this winter, there can be an overwhelming sense to throw all of your healthy eating habits and hard-earned fitness gains out the window until the new year. Thankfully, with our 10 Top tips (actually 11) you can still have loads of fun whilst keeping your health and fitness intact over the festive season.
Eat Before heading out
While it’s certainly not the most sociably acceptable thing to do, eating something before you go out can be a great way to avoid overindulging in unhealthy Christmassy treats when you’re out and about or on the town. If you don't have time for a sit-down meal, no problem, just grab a healthy snack like a handful of nuts, a high-protein yogurt or a piece of fruit to take the edge off.
Workout first thing in the morning
Like Santa, get your workouts done while the rest of the world sleeps. The quicker you can get up and get a sweat on, the less temptation and excuses there will be not to exercise later in the day. You'll also avoid the all-too-common negative remarks like "oh come on, it's Christmas time". As if that should make a difference!
Go on, treat yourself a little
It's Christmas and you should absolutely treat yourself to the foods you most enjoy (in moderation). By doing so, you're far less likely to go overboard and eat the whole Christmas cake during a moment of weakness.
Take a multivitamin
While a multivitamin should never replace a healthy and balanced diet, when you're out of your regular routine, traveling, and/or socializing a lot, it can be a great way to ensure your body gets all of the vitamins and minerals it needs to function properly. While it's certainly not an excuse to make every dietary choice a poor one, it is nice to know you've got a safety net to fall back on. Performance Lab Multivitamin is my go-to! It’s an Ultramodern multivitamin formula with 17+ essential daily vitamins and minerals.
If you’d rather not take a multivitamin but are looking for a supplement to give your immune system a little boost during the festive period (let’s not even mention Covid), check out Performance Lab’s PL-immune formula.
Related article: How to boost your immune system and mood over winter
Avoid Skipping Meals
As desperate as you may be to make up for the excessive consumption from the night before, try not to skip meals. As counterintuitive as it sounds, when you go too long without food, your body reverts back to its survival instincts by slowing down the metabolism. When you do finally eat, your body will be more likely to store that food to safeguard you from starvation.
Build some muscle
Now we’re talking! Instead of allowing that surplus of calories to go straight to your waistline, take advantage and hit the Weights. Building muscle, like gaining fat requires an excess of calories but by opting to put those calories towards fuelling your workouts and aiding recovery, the more likely you are to gain a pound or two of muscle instead of fat.
Stick to a routine
Regardless of your now busier than usual schedule, try to stick, as closely as possible to your regular eating and exercise routine. If your schedule simply won't allow for adequate meal prep and gym time, keep your meals simple and your workouts time effective. HIIT workouts take half the time and can be done anywhere at any time.
Take advantage of winter sports
Yes, it's cold outside but no, you don't have to reduce yourself to after eights, Netflix, and the sofa for the entirety of the advent calendar. Use the winter weather to your advantage and learn a new sport or hobby. Go sledding, ice skating, skiing, and snowboarding. Hell, even building a snowman or having a snowball fight is better than nothing!
Be Realistic
If you know it's going to be impossible to stick to your current exercise routine, sit down and set out more pragmatic fitness objectives. It's ok to do less exercise over the festive season and by setting yourself more realistic goals, you'll be far more likely to stick to them.
Drink in Moderation
It's highly probable that you're going to have a cheeky dabble here and there, just don't go overboard. If you have a big night out planned, try to alternate between an alcoholic drink and a glass of water. You won't drink as much and your hangover will be less likely to keep you in bed and out of the gym. Failing that, try out many of the new non-alcoholic equivalents to your favorite tipples.
Hydration hydration hydration
Water can not only help satiate your appetite, but it can also help flush out all of the nasty toxins from the body. By staying hydrated over the festive season, you'll not only look and feel better but you'll also be more likely to perform come exercise time, allowing you to burn more calories in the process.
Related article: The 5 Best Stimulant-Free Fat Burners for Men and Women 2021
Summary
Try eating before heading out, treat yourself, take a multivitamin as a safety net, avoid skipping meals, exercise in the morning, build muscle, stick to a routine, enjoy winter sports, be realistic, drink alcohol in moderation, and stay hydrated.
There you ho ho ho. Wishing you all a Merry Christmas from Ebylife.
