“It’s the worst time of year to start.”

One of my new clients said this to me last week, a highly motivated woman who wants to take charge of her fitness and make progress, someone who loves exercise and even she admits that Christmas is a hard time to get started.

But is it?

“Go on, it’s Christmas”

I want you to imagine Mrs Doyle from Father Ted here

“ahh go on, go on, go on, go on…”

We all have someone in our lives like that, maybe even the little voice inside your head. GO ON!!! You can have it, it’s only two weeks of the year…

Over Christmas we tend to have food in the house that we wouldn’t usually have, tins of chocolate that are not usually there, home made shortbread, special ‘festive’ cheeses and biscuits to eat them with. Bucks fizz, mulled wine, baileys in the coffee. All things you never have, except for December.

But why…?

The reality is that if you wanted to have baileys in your coffee at any time of year, you can (provided you are over 18!)
You can buy biscuits and eat cheese whenever you want!
Tins of chocolate? Always available in the shops.

There is no need to pack it all into two weeks of the year where you will come out of it feeling guilty, heavy, sick, fat, depressed and beating yourself up.

We allow food to control us more than ever in these two weeks because it is the only time of year that you can eat a bag of chocolate coins and bucks fizz for breakfast and be considered ‘normal’ (or was that just me?)

As you go into Christmas I want you to keep one thing in mind:

Conscious choice

If you choose to eat chocolate for breakfast, that’s ok. No judgement.
If you choose to eat a bit more than you usually would, that’s ok too.

Don’t feel guilty.
Don’t beat yourself up.

But don’t eat something just because it’s Christmas.

Don’t panic and think “I must eat all of the things because this is the only day that I can”

If you have that “go on, go on, go on” moment, stop and think “Do I actually WANT to eat this?”

If the answer is no, then don’t.

The Christmas slump

Between Christmas Day and New Year’s Day things are a bit up in the air. Depending what your job is you may be off for 2 weeks, in other jobs you might have different shift patterns to usual. The thought of having that down time to yourself can be amazing. But how long do you get into the holiday before it starts to feel boring?

I discovered this last year, I had 2 full weeks off and after months of hard core classes I decided to have a full break. Four days into this holiday and I was climbing the walls.

My problem? No routine.

This year it’s the same, my usual routine of get up at 5.30, eat, teach, work, lunch, teach, work, dinner, early bed, repeat, will all be thrown into disarray.

In order to avoid the mistakes of last year, I’m starting to plan ways that I can keep active during the break to keep on top of this lack of routine. I’m still planning to walk regularly, I’ll do my own workouts, go and see friends and try to keep late nights to a minimum.

But that’s easy for me to say, right?
I’m a personal trainer, this kind of thing is in my bones, right?
Because I’m always active and healthy, yeah?

No.

Incase you missed it, my background is not a super fit and active one. I came from eating junk food and not moving very much. I am active and healthy now because I choose to be.

I feel better and fitter and happier when I am active, so why would I stop being active over Christmas just because my schedule is disrupted?

Fair enough on Christmas day, take a break, enjoy the food and relax but keep it to one day. On Boxing Day, you owe it to yourself to return to a routine.

If you have a schedule that will be disrupted, fill that empty time with something positive. Do something that gets you moving, thinking, talking, laughing. Plan some sort of routine to help you along, especially if you find you get into that christmas slump all too easily.

“I’ll start in the new year…”

Answer me this, why wait?

December is the BEST time of year to start. Don’t believe me…?

Lets see…

Everyone is off stressing doing Christmas shopping, exercise helps to reduce stress so you’re not uptight come the big day

People aren’t in the gym, they are busy with other things, the gym floor and the classes get quieter so there’s no waiting for machines or having to reserve classes

You may have some down time from work, this helps you to settle into exercise at a time where you can devote your energy to it without too many distractions.

If you are indulging in chocolates and sugar, this is good fuel for your new workouts.

You’re staying active and avoiding the Christmas Slump

If you hire a personal trainer chances are they will have space to take you on…January gets busy and once the diary is full, you’re outta luck

You start the new year healthier, fitter, happier, and energised.

What’s not to love about being active in December?

Take charge, start making those changes NOW

Because in January, you’ll wish you had.

Ainzlie

Xx

p.s: I’m taking on new clients just now but there are only a few spots left, and I have people to meet before January who would like to sign up.

So if you’re ready to work on your weight loss plan for 2016, contact me now now.

Just like these guys did.