Afraid your holiday travel plans may get in the way of your healthy routine? Personal trainer Stephanie Mansour says she hears this from clients all the time and it’s understandable. When your environment and schedule are thrown off, it can be challenging to maintain the healthy habits you’ve worked so hard to put in place. Between social obligations, decadent meals and being out of your comfort zone, sticking to your healthy eating plan and keeping up with workouts can be tough but these mental tricks can help you keep your health a priority.
- Figure out your reason why- Determine why your diet and fitness are so important to you because understanding the reasoning behind your health goals makes it easier to stick to them. Then focus on prioritizing yourself, so the hour of lounging you lose to go for a jog feels like a gift to yourself instead of a punishment.
- Make workouts part of your holiday itinerary- When you’re planning your trip, include some fitness in your daily schedule. Even if it’s just a quick core routine or an HIIT workout, anything is better than nothing at all.
- Focus on adding healthy foods, not cutting less healthy ones- No one likes feeling deprived, so don’t focus on all the stuff you can’t eat at the holiday buffet. Flip your mindset to find all the healthy foods you can enjoy and allow yourself to indulge in the treats you really love and skip the ones you don’t.
- Find fun ways to get moving- Think of exercise on your trip as a break from the holiday stress and a chance to spend quality time with loved ones. Get everyone involved in a fun group activity, like a hike or ice skating and it won’t feel like such a chore to workout.
- Practice saying no- This is tough for a lot of us, but having some responses ready to go can help when food pushers hit you up at the holiday table. Be prepared with a “No thanks, I’m already stuffed from dinner” when Grandma tries to serve you another slice of pie, because you know she will.
Source:Today