Navigating the holidays with your health in mind.
Fall is the best season of the year. This is a true statement if you are the 40% of U.S. adults that agree with me. You other 60% need to come to your senses. Fall kicks off the countdown to the big 3 holiday season: Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years. For my health-conscious people, it is also a time of great navigation and juggling of family traditions, social gatherings, travel, and treating yourself without going overboard. Every year, I remind myself of a few considerations to help navigate this wonderful, yet stressful time to enjoy the big 3 and maintain my health commitments.
#1 Keep training – It is easy to snowball a busy schedule or a bad day of eating into a few weeks of no fitness. Make the fitness happen whether it’s a group class at CFBL or a workout in your living room. The sweat, intensity, and physical exertion always make your day better.
#2 Savor high value moments – Identify the most valuable experiences for you across the big 3 holidays and save your “treats” for those moments. There is nothing of value in the cheap Sam’s Club Christmas cupcakes someone brought to work. Ignore them, walk away. But there is love and memories to be made in baking homemade cookies with your children using grandma’s secret recipe. Is it a great social moment? Is it a valuable moment of tradition? Does it create memories and refresh your soul?
#3 Start each day anew – Consistency of health behaviors is the primary driver of optimal health. You started the holiday season with healthy habits; consuming 30 grams of protein with breakfast, drinking primarily water, walking 10000 steps per day, eating fruits and vegetables, abstaining from refined carbohydrate. Don’t let guilt of too many sweets or fast food from traveling flow into the next day. Begin each day anew and be ready to move forward.
Enjoy the holidays. Spend lots of time with friends and family. Make memories. Keep training. Tell someone about how CrossFit has changed your life.
God Bless,
Jared
