The holidays are approaching quickly, and if you’re anything like me you’re probably both excited and nervous for the days ahead.
Friends, food, the creation of holiday memories, and, of course, being reunited with your loved ones.
The great news is, this holiday season offers you a chance to show off your healthy lifestyle to everyone! Instead of viewing the holidays as a challenge, think of them as a showcase. To help meet your fitness goals, I’ve come up with ten quick tips that will help you boost your health, blast away unwanted fat, and improve your fitness level!
1. Recordkeeping
Keep a record. In the midst of all of your other holiday tasks, it’s really easy to forget to work out. My solution? Keep a fitness record. For me, this means recording not only what I eat, but also what workouts I do. There are a multitude of benefits to this.
First, recording your diet helps you to keep track of what you’re putting in your body. Doing this can help you target specific weaknesses that you have and avoid them. For example, if you notice that you’ve been eating a handful of chocolate every day, you can start to set reasonable goals to whittle this amount down. Second, keeping a fitness journal helps you with meal planning, which is an important element of fitness.
Lastly, recording exercises and reps helps you to be able to keep track of the calories you are burning and the muscle groups you are working. You can make your fitness journal anywhere — I like to write mine down in a physical notebook, but you can also record yours on your computer or on a fitness-tracking website such as fitocracy.com. If you are smart-phone savvy, there are also a variety of apps that help you keep track of your lifestyle — I like My Fitness Pal for the iPhone.
2. Hydration
Stay hydrated. The benefits of drinking water are countless. Water flushes toxins from your system, which improves organ function and skin health. More importantly, drinking more water actually prevents water retention. Bloating in your ankles, stomach, and feet is often caused by your body retaining too much water. When you aren’t adequately hydrated, your body holds on to what water it has, which causes fluctuations on the scale — making you think that you’ve gained weight.
Livestrong explains this and also states, “As an added bonus, drinking more water can help you shed fat as well.” Keep a bottle of water with you at all times and sip from it throughout your day. I always try to take a reusable bottle of water to my classes so that I remember to re hydrate no matter where I am.