Health & Fitness: Keeping fit & festive!

It’s a tricky time of year – food, parties, fizz, food. It’s easy for all your health and fitness goals to go out the window when the 17th mince pie in two days appears under your nose. 

Generally, I’m of the opinion that a festive exercise and diet break is fine, if not great, BUT if you are like me and pile it on if you so much as sniff a turkey sandwich, then I figure it’s time to get creative with ways to keep up your fitness over the holidays without sacrificing all the deliciousness. So much deliciousness. Ahem.

With that in mind, my round up this month is full of inventive ideas on how to burn off those extra calories (and keep healthy in general – winter is not the immune system’s friend)

Keeping Fit Over The Holidays 

There’s a lot of rich food at this time of year, try and balance it out with some vitamin and mineral heavy goodness. Lylia Rose recommends smoothies and homemade veggie-packed soup – easily done with all those leftovers!

Edinburgh Mummy‘s idea doesn’t have a post, but the idea is super simple. Do twenty sit-ups in every ad break when you are watching telly. Maybe not one for immediately after a dinner containing sprouts, but a good way of keeping toned none the less. 

A tip from Slim Slights is clever – don’t do any Christmas food shopping until as close to last minute as you can. No temptation to eat that entire packet of chocolate biscuits under your duvet on the 7th of December while you binge watch Scandal. Not that I’ve done that or anything. 

Devon Mama – the cruel woman – suggests HIIT exercises first thing in the morning. Evil, but you get results. Or you know, balance out the sherry a bit. Check out her Seven Ways To Keep Fit As A Family for the New Year!

Emma from Island Living 365 has 12 brilliant ways to sneak exercise into your day – my personal favourite for stay at home parents, is to get dressed into your gym gear first thing and not get changed until you’ve squeezed in a workout. 

If you are having festive days, don’t feel you have to make ALL the days festive, if you catch Just Average Jen‘s drift. Don’t feel so bad about an off day that you give up and take up a diet of cheese and baileys for the entire season. Have off days sure, but keep the other ones on track and don’t feel bad – it is Christmas after all!

If your festive health and fitness goals are slipping due to being such a busy lizzie (aren’t we all!) then it’s important to make sure you are getting enough quality sleep – great tips here from Living Life Our Way.

This exercise for Dad’s post from Daddilife (which I’m pretty sure us Mum’s could benefit from too) has some sneaky tips. Twenty squats every time you touch a doorknob? Would certainly have the kids laughing, and you with killer thighs before long! 

Exercising with your kids in general is a great way to spend time with them over the holidays – wrapping up for walks or heading to the swimming pool, you keep them busy (and not pestering you for constant snacks/looking for the presents/re-decorating your tree with loo roll) and you burn off some calories too. Either that or run away for an hour to an exercise class!

Enjoy your holidays whatever your plans, and see you in the (hopefully not too chubbier, if I follow some of this advice) New Year!

Sarah x