Maintaining a Fitness Routine During the Holidays

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By November, you can already feel it in the air… What is “it”? The holiday spirit!

The air is (finally!) starting to cool down, Christmas decorations are taking over Hobby Lobby, soon the kids will be out of school, and you’ll be traveling and filling up your calendar with events. Before we fill up every possible second in our planners, we need to remember to take some time for our health. I’d love to share with you some tips that help me maintain a fitness routine during the holidays.

I used to think that regular exercise meant regular torture. For some reason I had it in my head that if I wasn’t drenched in sweat after my workout, then that meant I didn’t really workout. What kind of sick logic is that?! I know, as I’m typing this I realize the insanity of it, but I know I’m not the only one with this thought process. So, I’m here to tell you that your exercise/work out/movement does not have to be torture. Fitness can be fun, and give you a great sense of satisfaction.

The first step is to find an exercise you actually like doing. This will look different for many of us. It could be yoga, walking, weight lifting, Zumba, spinning, running… I could go on, but I think you get the picture. If you find something you enjoy then you’re much more likely to get it done. I do think you should try and cover all your basics in a week: cardio, strength, and core… but the ways in which you get this accomplish can be based around your preferences.

The second step is to be intentional and set a time for your workout. Many times, if we don’t schedule something in our day, it never gets done. Even if all you have is 15 minutes a day, then commit to those 15 minutes a day. All your workouts don’t have to be an hour long. That was another irrational thought I had: If I can’t workout for a least an hour, then there’s no point in exercising today.

Y’all, where do these thoughts even come from? I have no idea, but the point here is, even a small amount a day is better than just being sedentary.

The third step is to make it work for you. Ideally, I’d love for all my workouts to be done in the gym 5 days a week. The reality is… life happens. Especially during the holidays. Between traveling, gift shopping, and insane amounts of cooking, your time may be stretched thin during the holidays. So, check out YouTube if you like (free) guided workouts. I have found tons of great cardio, strength, and yoga tutorials on YouTube! Of course, it won’t be as good as a personal trainer, but it’s the next best thing. Also, you can consider just walking around your neighborhood with the family, or going for bike rides together and getting some fresh air. This is a great way to get the kids (and maybe even your spouse!) involved.

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I would love to hear from you. How do you maintain your workouts during the holidays? 

1 COMMENT

  1. Hi Amanda,
    Very good article, all very true! It is difficult to keep any type of exercise routine in tact when there’s SO MUCH TO DO!!! I struggle with feeling guilty about taking 30 mins to myself to do a YouTube workout while trying my best to ignore the kids petty things while doing so. How do you get through any workout without stopping 10 times to breakup fights or comfort a sobbing little one? Those 30 mins end up being an hour!! ?like you, I have 4 little ones (active little ones, I might add).

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