How to Navigate the Holiday Table
It’s November! That means we are about to have a bunch of holidays back to back! Yay! Family, friends and food, what more could you ask for, right!?
Now, you might actually not be that excited. Maybe you just started (or got back on track) your health + fitness journey and you don’t really know how to navigate all of the foods that are about to be in front of you.
If you’re in this boat, I have your solution!
First off I’d like to point out that a sustainable approach to health + fitness is about adding to your life and not restricting you. So let go of that “all or nothing” mindset that I think all of us seem to fall into especially with our fitness journeys. A few off days of eating aren’t going to ruin any of your progress or throw you off track. A few days of missed workouts aren’t going to make you loose all of your fitness and strength. You didn’t gain all of this progress in one day so you aren’t going to loose it in one day!
That being said I want to offer some solutions that I tell my clients and myself during holiday times and even events throughout the year!
Food wise I like to make sure I have a good breakfast with a protein source, carb source and fat source. This way i have a good balanced meal to start the day! Then for the holiday meal I grab a little bit of everything I like, you can always go back for seconds! Same goes for desserts. This way you can have everything you want! Honestly, don’t put so much stress on yourself around the food, or at least try not to. If you’re tracking Macros and this would stress you out then take an untracked meal or day. Again you won’t ruin your progress with one day not hitting your macros. It’s consistency over time that dictates progress!
Workout / movement wise it really depends on you. I’m a runner so odds are I’m probably going to try and squeeze in a run before heading out to see family even if its only a couple miles. There’s also my strength training days that if a holiday falls on one of these days I’d probably just rearrange my schedule to fit it in another day due to the gym probably being closed.
So this being said I think that you don’t HAVE to workout if you can’t or don’t want to. But also remember that if you want to that’s ok too! If you’ e traveling and don't have access to what you normally would, there’s plenty of body weight workouts or even resistance bands that can still make it so you can get a good workout in!
Another good way to get movement in would be going for a walk after the big meal! This is a great way to help digest the meal and get some movement in outside! Plus this can include the whole family! But don’t workout just because you’re going to be eating alot!
In the end I’d say 1. Take a deep breath. 2. A few days out of the year isn’t going to ruin progress, it’s consistency that brings results not perfection. 3. It’s the holidays so enjoy it!
I hope this helps!
