Fitness Community Board

Add to this the sweet temptations that are traditionally associated with the festive season and the fact that we all tend to overindulge and you can see why Christmas is traditionally associated with the time of year when diets, training and self-discipline, go out the window.

Studies show that more than 80% of adults put weight on over Christmas. Usually this is weight which is then barely lost in the new year as everyone tries to get ready for summer and the swimsuit season. The truth is that with just a little preparation and forward planning much of this angst could be avoided and your health and fitness plan need not go crashing down in flames.

Here are some tips to help you maintain your shape and fitness levels over Christmas.

1. Do something extra. Christmas is the time of year when we spend more time running around trying to complete projects at work and fit in Christmas shopping than running to the gym. This is why it makes it the perfect time of the year to add something extra to your fitness routine. This could be something small, like say, doing ten press ups in the morning before you hit the shower or doing the same amount in the evening before you to bed. Do it every day of December and suddenly you have over 300 additional press ups you shoehorned into your fitness routine which will help your body remain strong and your muscles toned.

2. Up your intensity. With fewer gym hours put in now’s the time to squeeze more out of every minute you spend there. If you do treadmill work experiment with upping the speed or increasing the incline (or both). If you go in for weights and resistance work, now’s the time to take everything to the next level, putting in more reps and increasing the actual weight you are lifting. Intensity helps increase muscle density and denser muscles burn more calories anyway.

3. Give something up. You know that you are going to over-indulge over Christmas. Whether it’s at the company party or out with friends or the day itself spent with family, food, and lots of it, features large as do drinks, sweets, more drinks and more sweets plus all the Christmas snacks and the piles of Christmas food itself. You have 31 days to actually give something up which, over the course of the month, will help you balance your calorie intake. It could be you give up dinner, or you give up lunch or you consciously decide to reduce the portion you have for at least one meal a day by half. The thing is that by doing this you get out of having to monitor everything you eat and you can also stop feeling guilty.

4. Do something on the day. Christmas day is the kind of day when most people stay indoors and eat, eat and eat. Do something different. Go for a long walk in the park. Or take the kids out for a long cycle ride. Go ice-skating (if you happen to have a frozen pond nearby) or go for a run in the cold. The trick here is to stop your body from slumping into disuse, which it can actually do remarkably quickly. Whatever you do remember it does not have to be ultra-strenuous. It’s maintenance you are getting into, until the new year arrives and everything gets back to normal again.

These are little tricks to use. Provided you apply them you can get through Christmas without actually having to worry about losing fitness or piling on the pounds and that is probably the best Christmas gift you could ever give yourself.