How to Stay Fit During Christmas

Sweets, endless feasts, partying the whole night… Are you ready for the most intense days of the whole year? But do not worry, it is easy to survive the Christmas holidays if you know how. Here, we will give you a few tips to stay fit during Christmas.

You still have time to make a plan and learn how to cope with the excesses of Christmas in the best way possible.

The trick is trying to avoid copious meals and plan your workout routine beforehand.

However, it is quite complicated to resist the temptation due to the endless offer of Christmas sweets. Apart from the fact that we can start buying them early in November.

We have already talked about the negative consequences of having high blood glucose levels in some articles from our blog.

Moreover, type II diabetes is becoming more and more frequent, as well as cardiovascular diseases; a state of chronic inflammation due to an excess of refined carbohydrates; these are connected to cancer and Alzheimer’s disease, among less evident consequences.

On top of that, here you have some extra tips to stay fit during Christmas:

Replace some meals for fitness recipes

You would be surprised if you knew the amount of fitness recipes you can cook for Christmas. You just have to go through our fitness recipes section and choose your favorite ones…

If you cook the recipes properly and you use good ingredients, you will be able to enjoy a feast during this special holidays.

There are other products, like seafood, which are healthy by definition. Go for it if there are prawns on the Christmas Day. However, do not soak them on mayonnaise or similar sauces.

Canapes are not a good meal

Even if you you try to hold your horses when it comes to the main dish, be careful with canapes. They do not tend to be healthy in general.

Try to maintain your eating habits during the holidays. Eating a little bit less of your grandma’s stock or doing some fasting are also good solutions.

Try to match your days of rest with days off

However, there are some things that we cannot help. You can cause a family argument if you refuse your grandma’s stock or if you are absent because you went to the gym. Moreover, most gyms will actually remain closed during the holidays.

So, plan your workout routine for Christmas and the New Year while there is still time.

If you travel, take a resistance band with you and follow a simple routine

If you are travelling these holidays, do not forget to take a resistance band with you. Otherwise, you will probably not be able to do exercise.

On the other hand, TRX is also quite practical and you can take them with you almost anywhere. Moreover, they barely weigh, so it will be fine if you have to take a plane or travel long distances.

Do exercise with friends

Christmas is a great time to wind down and forget about work. Take a break and spend some time with your loved ones. For example, many actually take the opportunity to meet their childhood friends and remember the good old times.

It is a great chance to ask them if they would like to start doing exercise together. For instance, you could join a football club, go biking on Sundays or encourage them to go to the gym. Apart from doing exercise together, you will have the perfect excuse to see them more frequently.

Challenge a friend and keep your word

Although it may sound childish, making a promise to someone is always a good way to avoid falling into the temptation. An excellent idea would be to use some kind of “reward” in order to keep going with your workout plan.

For example, the reward could be a romantic dinner if you manage to maintain your fitness routine during Christmas. Therefore, you will always think twice before laying all day in the sofa or eating a huge meal.

Go to bed early

If you want to function properly, you will have to rest. We all know how hard a post-party morning can be. In fact, it will be very difficult to go to the gym even if you wake up at 12:00 in the morning. That is why we will need to learn some self-control during these holidays.

Set your goals

The new year resolutions are almost as traditional as the Advent calendar or hanging stockings on the chimney…

Take advantage of that emotional burst to set a clear objective. Maybe, you will be able to find allies that will join your cause and help you at the gym in this coming year.

Although you should know that starting is much easier that prospering.

Do not be shy and dance

As long as it does not involve staying up all night and drinking too much alcohol, dancing is a great physical exercise.

Apart from burning calories, spending some time with your friends can be quite pleasant and you will surely make great memories together.

Join fun runs

If you manage to convince someone to go with you, you will feel even more motivated. So, apart from running 10km the day of the race, you will have to prepare and a couple of days before the big day. Make sure to smash your marks and let everyone know who is the fastest!

Balance the excess of sweets of Christmas

Low glycemic index diets reduce the inflammation. However, following them is not easy if we do not have some previous nutritional education.

In fact, some people have a hard time trying to limit the intake of high glycemic index products. Particularly during Christmas, it could be useful to use alternative methods to balance that insulin peak.

Evidently, everyone knows that physical exercise can improve the glycemic control in people with type II diabetes. But, diabetic people are not the only ones who have to limit the consumption of Christmas sweets. Therefore, it is important to know the impact of exercise on the postprandial glycemic response in people without diabetes.

Obviously, the best thing would be to limit the intake of this type of products. But knowing that everyone falls during these dates and avoiding them would probably do more harm than good, we suggest doing some exercise. In fact, it can even be light exercise (like walking) after eating them.

Sources

• Heiss, C. J., & Tollefson, M. (2014). Postprandial Light Exercise Attenuates the Glycemic Effect of a Candy Bar. Topics in Clinical Nutrition, 29(2), 132-138.

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