Your Fitness Routine – The Holiday Edition

How to be healthy over the holiday period – and still enjoy yourself!

3 min

By Natascha Klemm
November 29, 2022

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You pack your gym bag the night before so you can hit the gym straight after work the next day, and your protein-rich lunch is ready to go because you’re a meal prep pro! But as soon as Christmas is here, you like to swap your protein shaker for a mug of mulled wine and your Tupperware only gets used for your leftovers.

So how do you get through the winter and Christmas season without forgetting all about fitness? It’s easier than you think. The most important rule is don’t stress too much.

#1 Use Your Mornings

Should you swap your cozy evening on the couch with family and friends for a sweaty barbell session in the gym? As much as we love squats, we certainly don’t advise this! Doing your workout in the morning is a better idea. You’ll have more energy (especially with a portion of Energy Aminos), the gym will be empty, and you won’t miss any valuable time with your loved ones, because they’ll probably still be in bed. Don’t have the chance or the time to go to the gym? No problem, that’s what we’re here for. Simply follow this intense workout at home and work up a sweat or combine two intense exercises into a short Tabata workout. It might only last four minutes, but it’s still proven to be a highly effective training method.

If you want to take things a little slower in the morning but still get active, here are the best full-body exercises to add to your morning routine.

#2 Set Realistic Goals

We’re big fans of pursuing fixed goals in training and tracking your progress. But let’s be honest – you probably won’t set any new personal bests over the holidays. The good thing is, you don’t have to! You shouldn’t fall into black-and-white thinking and just forget about training altogether though. Even if you don’t set any new records, it’s worth sticking with it. That way you won’t feel sluggish during the day and it will be much easier to get started again after the holidays. In the meantime, your goal can just be to do some sports.

#3 Move Everyday

If you already know that you won’t get to the gym as often as usual, stay as active as you can during the day (your daily routine won’t be the same during the holidays anyway). The classic thing to do is to avoid escalators and elevators. Walk more, do a few bodyweight exercises here and there, go shopping on your bike and you’ll see that the movement adds up and keeps you fitter than you expected.

#4 Eat Protein

… And don’t skip meals just because you think you need to compensate for that extra cookie. Provide your body, and especially your muscles, with all the usual nutrients and protein. Start the day with a festive surprise of fluffy protein pancakes that will make both your family and your muscles happy. Christmas Protein Porridge topped with fresh fruit and cinnamon is another easy way to enjoy a festive breakfast that’s full of protein. This way, you needn’t worry about your muscles disappearing just because you didn’t go all out in your workout for a few days. Plus, this approach is your best secret weapon against afternoon cravings, as a multitude of studies have now shown. You’ll be nice and full thanks to a sufficiently high protein intake of at least 1.5-1.8 g per kilogram of body weight and it’ll be easier not to eat five extra plates of cookies – and even if you do, your muscles will still have everything they need.

How much protein per meal can your body utilize? Find out here.

#5 Combine Exercise & Family Time

By the time you arrive at your family’s house and spend a few days there, that’s probably it for the gym routine. So why not combine family time with a bit of exercise? Go for a hike together, go skating, or perhaps you have some family members who are fans of jogging? If you’re lucky enough to have snow where you live, dig the sledge out of the garage and find the nearest hill or mountain to sprint up after a snowy run down. Having fun is definitely your top priority!

Another option to combine a healthy lifestyle with winter activities is baking – namely our healthy Christmas cookies.

#4 Take time for yourself

A good fitness routine also includes the right mindset. This can get lost quickly, especially during the holidays when we’re stressed (happy but stressed) and often forget that this is supposed to be a contemplative time of year. Take some time out for yourself early in the morning, write in your journal or if that’s not up your street, simply enjoy a cup of coffee in peace and take a deep breath before the pre-Christmas madness washes over you once more.

#7 Take it Easy

Most importantly, remember that if you’re active all year round, you won’t undo your fitness if you take a few days off training, eat a few cookies, and enjoy an extra helping of turkey. On the contrary, your muscles will finally have some time to recover. Enjoy the holidays to the fullest and you’ll see that afterwards you’ll have even more motivation and power when you start your workouts again. By the time the gyms empty once more in February after the initial New Year’s rush, you’ll be back in your routine and ready for an athletic year ahead, with new goals you’ll be guaranteed to achieve.

Sources for this article

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