By James Pratt
Do you feel like you’re always putting on a few pounds during the tail end of each calendar year?
Having candy in your house for Trick-Or-Treaters for a few weeks in October becomes a daily test of willpower. Thanksgiving not only provides us with one huge feast but usually with enough leftovers to recreate the buffet-style meal another 5 times. The next thing you know you’re eating and drinking more than usual at holiday parties. Then after a couple of deep breaths, it’s time for New Year’s: more drinks, more food, and more leftovers.
In the last 10 weeks of the year, we will be faced with our greatest fitness and nutrition challenges. There are tons of tempting high-calorie foods everywhere. It becomes difficult to find time to exercise. It is common to want to wait until the New Year. This article isn’t going to try to convince you to avoid all the delicious food you will be exposed to. It won’t be about eliminating alcohol either. It also won’t be about getting into the gym 14 hours per week to offset the high-calorie intake.
Let’s avoid the all-or-nothing approach that we frequently fall victim to and discuss some habits to keep your fitness levels up while enjoying the holiday season. Let’s discuss simple habits. No juice cleanses, multi-day fasting, or celery-only dinner parties.
The following are some of the most helpful habits we have applied with our members at Pratt Personal Training. Let’s be very specific to eliminate gray areas regarding the habits recommended below. ONLY select 1-2 of the 5 habits listed below. Try to choose the ones you think would make the biggest difference in your life. This will be different for everyone.
- WATER – Drink a glass between all alcoholic beverages.
- STEPS – 2,000 more than you currently get.
- STRENGTH TRAINING – 2-3 days per week for 30 minutes.
- FRUITS/VEGETABLES – 1 serving 3 times per day.
- PROTEIN – 1 meal with 30 grams.
Obviously, the numbers associated with these habits can be adjusted to fit your preferences.
TRACKING
For your newly selected habits, break out a calendar or Google document. For each day that you succeed in sticking to your habit, give yourself a check mark. When you do not, give yourself an X. You will be surprised at how much more motivated you will be in knowing you will give yourself the satisfaction of a check each day. If you do not succeed that day, do not sweat it! Trying to adhere to these habits at 100 percent competency will be impossible, shoot for at least 85 percent to start.
I hope this was helpful!
James Pratt is the owner/founder of Pratt Personal Training. If you have any questions regarding fitness, please shoot him a text at 848-333-8110. For more information, check out the website: prattperformance.com.
