Don’t Let A Lapse Become A Collapse – Christmas Holiday Advice – with Deb⁣

Not only are we blessed with coaches who look out for our clients, but clients who look out for each other. ⁣

Deb shared this fantastic piece of advice with us during a personal training session today.⁣

The Christmas/New Year period is the time many of us find it difficult to say no. ⁣ No to sweet and savoury treats, no to beer and wine, morning teas and drinks after work.⁣ This makes it all too easy to shelve your sensible nutritional focus, or your new focus on sleeping more and falling into the ‘start again after the holidays’ trap.⁣

So, if you do sneak in a night out after work, or an extra filling morning tea in the office, don’t use this as an excuse to blow out.⁣ Take it in your stride, and get back into your normal routine as soon as possible.⁣ Thanks to Deb for the pearls of wisdom?⁣

Here are our healthy tips for the holidays:

Don’t over-eat Aka don’t stuff your face like you’ve never seen chocolate or sausage rolls before! There is always way too much ‘food’ around during Christmas/New Year. You only have to look at the craziness that happens when we realise the shops will be shut for a day. People are driving trolleys looking like logging trucks coming over the Rimutakas, jammed to overflowing with chippies, choccies and beersies. Going into the big day with a mindset of dominating the table, hovering up the ham and smashing the chilly bin are all the ingredients of major kilo gain. Stick to the big three, protein, a little carb and some fat, like chicken and mayo on a couple of slices of nice brown bread.

Sleep more not less It’s all too easy to see the two weeks most have as leave over the festive break as party time. Staying up late, a couple of cheeky beverages, a bowl of chips/nuts or even the greatest booze snack of all, pork scratching, and a season of Narcos on Netflix binge. All this will lead to is broken sleep patterns, making it even harder to get back into the swing of normality when the holidays are over. Broken sleep means the body doesn’t get the chance to recover properly. Add in the alcohol/junk funk combo and you’re at Macca’s for a calorie-heavy morning tea. Try to stick to a stable minimum of 6 – 7 hours (I’d say 8 but let’s not get too crazy, right), at the same time every night, preferably seeing you hitting the sack before the day has finished.

Get it in early The holidays are no excuse for not getting your daily sweat in, and earlier the better is the key to holiday workout success. Take our holiday classes. We move to 0930 over the Christmas/New Year week’s so our clients get their day on and their sweat on Getting your’s in early will see the afternoon excuses sidestepped and the health and fitness gods will smile down upon you. So, get the runners out of the kit bag, pump the bike tires up, or drag the kayak down the beach and make sure you get 25-45mins in at least three times a week. Add in a little squat/sit-up/push-up/Lunge Tabata once or twice weekly and you’ll be golden (we’ll be posting a holiday Tabata workout soon, so stay tuned)

Relax As much as we love the party/family/friends side of the festive period, it can prove to be quite stressful too, so employing a little mindfulness can go a long way to keeping you sane. Now, this doesn’t have to be 1500deg burn your eyebrows off yoga, nor does it have to see you sitting cross-legged ohmmmm-ing away. Going for a walk with the dog along the beach, reading a book in a quiet corner, or taking a dip in the ocean, can all prove to be just as relaxing. Our current favourite is a little parasympathetic breathing.

A simple technique is to allow your breathing to slow your heart rate, drop your blood pressure, relax your blood vessels and to enter a state of calm and healing.

Check out this simple tutorial on how to get your breathing into relax mode.

If you’d like some help staying on the straight and narrow health-wise over the holidays, get started now with a Free consultation with one of our expert coaches.

Click here to schedule your No Sweat Intro today