Can you believe it’s already December? The year has seemed to really fly by, but one of the most magical months of the year is upon us and it is a wonderful holiday for sure, full of lots of family gatherings, parties, and eating and drinking things we many not normally include in our diet. Not to mention a schedule that is full every day until Christmas.
With all the hustle and bustle of the holiday season the thought of you staying on track with your workouts and healthy eating might just seem impossible. Try to avoid the excuse of the cold weather and the long holiday “to do” list to derail your hard efforts for the rest of the year. You have come too far to just give up now and not finish the year strong. So what do you do with a list as long as the alphabet? The solution is simple: keep your workouts time efficient and effective.
At OCFM we coach and educate our clients on a way to increase their daily activity using something called,?NEAT: nonexercise, activity, thermogenesis. This idea of using NEAT daily comes from Dr. Levine’s book called, “Get Up”! In his book he encourages people to do what they can to stay active daily with everyday things such as housecleaning, yard work, vacuuming, laundry, parking further than you need to when going to a store and taking the stairs instead of the elevator?when possible. Looking for ways to use the NEAT lifestyle is easier than you may think and is very effective on increasing your daily steps and moving your body, our goal: is to move and sit less! As a coach and trainer, I like to say, Get Vertical as much as possible!
With your workouts try doing to H.I.I.T. cardio sessions 2-3 times a week for 30 minutes. You can do these types of workouts by using a bike, elliptical, treadmill, rower or doing outdoor walking. Warm-up for 2-3 min then do a 30, 45, 60 interval of work and then recovery for 30,45,60 sec or a little longer if necessary. Do this 8-10 times, the rhythm would be work/recover until you are done, cool down for 2-3 minutes at the end.
As far as your strength training, try doing one set 12-15 reps, 1-3 times a week of a full body workout. If you have time for 2 sets go for it, otherwise research has shown that one set will work when used when time is tight. Remember you can do your workouts in 10 minute sections as well, with cardio or strength training.
Plan your meals and try to cook as home as much as possible do some batch cooking and freeze food for later in the week. Have plenty of fruits and veggies on hand for snacking and keep the treats to a minimum. Stick with healthy protein chooses, and take snacks with you when you?re out and about. Stay hydrated and watch the alcohol intake.
Stay consistent with your workouts this year,? do?NOT put yourself on the back burner just because you?re busy, it’s really just another fancy excuse to not take care of yourself and your health is too important to do that! Give the gift of time to yourself to exercise and cook simply healthy meals during this holiday season and you will feel great for the holiday too.
Your health is your wealth and that’s your gift to you!
OC Fitness Mama
Fit & Fabulous @ 40 and beyond!