It’s Christmas/New Years time, friends! *inserts cheers, hi-5’s and back flips*
… I can’t actually back flip but if you can do all three of those things simultaneously, I’ll make some room on my iPhone (big deal, okay) for you to send me a video, please.
The holiday season is one of my favourite times of the year, as I imagine it is for some of you, too. It’s usually filled with family, friends, their pets (huge win), delicious food (huge, huge win) and general happiness all round. It’s pretty damn awesome, in short.
Now, coming from a fitness based background, its usually around this time I see a large amount of ‘fitspos’ dish out some tips for the holiday season. Some with 20k+ followers, some with even more than that, attaching their tips to a photo with their abs on display with a casual ab vein or two because #THEYWOKEUPLIKEDAT. Anyways, they usually sound something like this:
- Train like you are the next in line to take out the IFBB/INBA/ANB/WNBF/ACT/MARS/SATURN/JUPITER/WORLDWIDE Fitness/Bikini Model title.
- Eat like you normally would but if you indulge, reduce your total intake the next day/week and make sure you do an extra half an hour of cardio, daily.
- Monitor your weight.
- Remember your goals, always, never forget them for a single second or you will drop off the earth and die.
OK, MAYBE I went a little overboard on the last one, but I have a point.
The way they put these things, and word them to their large social media followings, make it seem like every single person in the entire world is looking to be a lean bean for the rest of their life. They almost put it in a way that makes you feel bad for not wanting to give a fuck for a couple of days.
Well, bloody surprise, fitspos… I’m not looking to be lean/and am not even currently lean. So, I’ve decided to propose four different tips for your holiday season this year, to all my 2 thousand followers on good ol’ Instagram.
Would/will faceplant in.
- Drop the damn diet.
Yeah, you read this correctly. I can’t stand the word ‘diet’ in general and the mentality that comes with it, so even mention it on Christmas day and I may just vomit in my mouth.
The last thing you should be worrying about on Christmas is how many calories you are consuming, how much protein is in that Christmas cake, or how many grams of fat your uncle has forgotten to cut off your slice of pork. IT’S ONE DAY PEOPLE.
Throw down that extra slice of ham, chug that margarita, and then stuff your mouth whole with that sugar filled Oreo flavoured cupcake all whilst balancing it out with some greens. Eat what you want, until you are full, and move on with your life. That’s quite literally as simple as it should be.
- Don’t force yourself to train.
I don’t care if it’s Christmas day, boxing day, new years day, or any day in between. If you don’t feel like training, then don’t. End of story.
I’m never going to be that person to tell you that you should train X amount of hours on a holiday or for an extra 30 minutes because you’ve been consuming more food, because in most cases, it limits time for memories and experiences.
Live your life, ya’ll. Get outside and play some cricket with your fam, swim in the pool with your cousins, or simply go for a walk with your spouse instead of bicep curling at the gym. I promise you will not hinder your progress for the next X amount of years or prevent yourself from getting on stage in 1874384 days and 4387498798475 hours. Chill, have fun, enjoy the opportunity to try ‘fitness’ outside of confined walls.
I got a bike in November and will be doing a lot of bike riding over New Years instead of hitting the gym – I’m looking forward to it. (p.s how kewl is it)
- Step off the damn scale.
I’ve never preached this before but during the holiday period, I truly believe you should step away from the scale.
You’re eating extra food so it’s inevitable that your weight is going to go up (usually only ever so slightly for a few days), that’s reality, and it shouldn’t come as a surprise.
Weighing yourself, as harmless as you may think it is at the time, has the ability to negatively affect you mentally, and more often than not it begins to alter one’s decisions. Once people weigh themselves during this time period and see that the number has creeped up a little, they limit themselves to what they can/can’t do and can/can’t eat the next day/week/s. And for what? A few less grams on the scale?
Who gives a shit!
It’s unnecessary stress, in my opinion. And who the frig wants stress on holidays?
Put. The. Scale. Away. People.
Embrace the curves, ya’ll.
- Put things into perspective.
The most important thing of all.
I hope that this holiday season you practice gratitude.
For the food options you have, the family members you are surrounded with, the opportunity you have to simply ‘play’ and de-stress, and the fact that you have the choice to move your body or not at the end of the day.
Put the fitness shit aside for a few days and focus on what is literally important at this time of year (hint: it’s not your abs). Your family members and friends aren’t going to treat you any differently knowing you have a fully shredded 6 pack under that cute Christmas dress or not.
Just drop it, all of it, and enjoy living in the moment with people who actually give a shit about you in real life, off social media. And make sure you show these people that you care, too.
Once you are able to put things into perspective, even ever so slightly, getting to the gym, counting your macros or eating off your meal plan becomes almost irrelevant. Breathe that in. Drop the stress.
Its refreshing.
Merry Christmas and a big, big, big HAPPY NEW YEAR, my loves.
Grateful for all this year has offered me, I hope you are, too.
Schae X
my life in balance 