Last years Christmas blog was about how to SURVIVE Christmas..

However this years Christmas blog is about how to THRIVE during Christmas, New Year and any holiday period coming up in 2018!

It’s a funny few weeks.. some people work a lot and some people don’t work at all. You might have better work ethic or you might be feeling ‘holiday mode’ creep in..

Either way, your training and nutrition don’t reeeally have to change..

Working more = increased need for routine, energy and focus.

Working less = more time to train, try new or different training methods like running or yoga and more time to prepare healthy foods.

First and foremost, we need to create a plan.

Possible scenario: “I am able to train every day, I am able to eat healthy Monday to Friday and I am able to get quality sleep.. Apart from the weekend, the weekend is full of Christmas parties and family dinners which means the opposite.”

Cool! That’s really not a horrible week, no need to throw it all out the window because you’re a bit dusty come Monday. Get back on that horse and ensure you DO train, eat well and sleep well so that you can BALANCE out your silly season.

Plan your workout days, plan your silly days and ensure you eat well and sleep well to compensate accordingly.

Secondly, how will you balance out your Christmas dinner or lunch?

Fasted cardio perhaps? First thing in the morning, get the family together and go for a walk. Down a black coffee and a big glass of water followed by 45-60 minutes of fast walking will ignite your metabolism and burn stored fat. A few body weight exercises would also be great to get the blood pumping and remind your body how to burn incoming food throughout the day.

Or perhaps get amongst a Boxing Day workout.. We are holding one at 8am in the gym! 60 minutes of mobility and sweaty sweaty boxing, that will surely help balance out the damage done on Christmas Day.

If there is a ton of food consumed, wether it be ham on Christmas Day, chocolate during Easter or cake on your birthday.. there is a ton of calories to be burned with a workout on the same day or at least within 24 hours! Calories in VS calories out.

Thirdly, how will you avoid burning the candle from both ends?

If you are one of those people who are super busy leading up to Christmas with work, buying presents and general Christmas/holiday preparations.. then you need a contingency plan!

I don’t know about you but Christmas time can be pretty full on!

Say you have to visit three families in 48 hours, be somewhere on Boxing Day, go back to work until New Years and then you hit it hard again over that break..

Before you know it, you’re back at work and you’re actually MORE fatigued and out of sorts than before your ‘holiday’. Remember, drinking, staying up late, eating lots of food and doing everything every day is take, take, take. Be sure to plan days, activities or weekends where you will give a little back to your body and soul.

Book yourself in for a float, massage or sauna session. Finally take up your friends offer to try yoga or pilates. Spend a day or two doing absolutely NOTHING but chill and drink lots of water. Get out into nature and breathe some fresh air during an easy walk through Mt Coot-tha. Do a stint of zero sugar, zero gluten and zero alcohol.

A few people will actually build lean muscle mass, burn fat and even heal injuries over the holidays because they will take some quality time off and focus on themselves and their wellbeing. Be one of those people!

So, have a think about your silly season.. take action, look after yourself and actually come out of the next few weeks BETTER than yesterday.

If you need help creating a plan or want to know what workouts we will be offering over the next couple of weeks, email me right now! Ready and waiting to help anyone who needs it 🙂

Tristan M. Forbes