How to stay active over the festive period

The festive countdown is on. With all of the preparations and social events that come with this, spare time can become increasingly limited, and healthy routines come into competition with lots of opportunities to indulge. However, before you set your out-of-office, let us help you to plan for a healthier December break.

How to find a healthy balance amidst the festivities

This time of year can pose challenges to keeping up with your fitness routine. But if you can maintain a base level of activity, your mental and physical wellbeing will thank you. Staying active is great for burning calories, combating stress, getting some fresh air, and improving sleep.

The key to maintaining healthy habits over the festive break is flexibility. You don’t have to forgo every festive treat to maintain your fitness routine. Here’s how to do it without becoming a total Grinch.

• Integrate exercise into festivities – deliver local greetings cards on foot, or catch up with family by going for a walk after lunch.
• Mindful eating – festive food is delicious, but you don’t have to eat it all. Focus on portion control, and use the power of the pause to eliminate mindless eating.
• Prioritise rest – it’s a stressful time of year, so make sure you get some downtime and enough sleep.
• Stay hydrated – drinking water (or sugar-free squash or herbal teas) helps manage appetite, stay healthy, and ward off headaches.

What are the implications of alcohol consumption?

Unless you’ve given up alcohol altogether, it can be hard to track how much you’ve had when you’re drinking at home, and you’ll probably be offered more variety than usual.

But over-drinking isn’t just about the hangover – it can affect your mental and physical health. Drinking too much disrupts your appetite cues, clouds judgement, impacts sleep quality and can leave you in a low mood.

Have these tips in the back of your mind when the booze starts flowing:

• At home – if you’re hosting, have plenty of non-alcoholic options (and partake yourself). Get hydrated earlier in the day, and drink water between alcoholic drinks.
• At a party – decide on a single kind of alcohol rather than mixing your drinks. Have water or a soft drink between alcoholic drinks, and be wary of your glass being topped up by a generous host.
• Going ‘out-out’ – decide how many drinks you’re going to have, and stick to this number. Remember, nobody else cares if you switch to soft drinks (and there are great non-alcohol swaps).
• Have non-drinking days – you don’t have to drink at every social occasion. Be the designated driver, or simply say that you’re not drinking.

Stay active with festive-friendly exercise

Family gatherings and social occasions might throw your routine off, but whether you’re at home or staying elsewhere, there are many ways to incorporate physical activity into your festive routines with minimal hassle.

• Home workouts – use apps or online videos to do quick workouts in any room. Bodyweight sessions are plenty, or get creative if you’ve got dumbbells, kettlebells, or resistance bands.
• Workouts on the go – if you’re travelling over the festive break, pack shoes for morning runs or walks, plus a set of resistance bands. Get your cardio by exploring the local area, and do resistance band workouts in your room.
• Exercise with others – the festive period is a great time for family-friendly activities like long walks, kickabouts in the park, or a run or hike if your lot are up for it! There’s usually at least one other person in every festive get-together who can be persuaded to do something active!

Master time management for a healthier break

The build-up to the holidays is bound to disrupt your routine, but you don’t need to workout for hours to reap the physical and mental benefits of exercise.

• Short workouts – 10-15 minutes of higher intensity exercise can burn calories, boost your mood, and tap into the health benefits of exercise. This might be a fast run, a bodyweight circuit, or a HIIT workout you find online.
• Early mornings – get it done first thing so the day can’t take over. Get up 30-45 minutes before the rest of the household and go for a walk, run, do a home workout, yoga session, or get to the gym.
• Outdoor exercise – it’s not always easy to maintain your gym routine over Christmas, so get creative with outdoor exercise. Run, hike, bike, or meet friends for a makeshift bootcamp in the park – it all counts.
• Walk for health – walking is one of the easiest ways to stay active, and has a host of health benefits. Aim for 8,000+ steps a day in one long walk or several short ones.
• Stretch it out – when you’re watching that festive TV special, roll out your yoga mat and enjoy 20-30 minutes of stretches to ease aching muscles, calm your mind, and give your digestive system a helping hand.

Set your keystone habits

Keystone habits are small, positive behaviours that you find easy to maintain. By sticking to your keystone habits no matter what, you’ll stay close to your healthy routine and form a foundation for habit stacking.

• How you start the day – keystone habits are especially useful in the morning. Decide how you want to start each day, choosing actions you’ll find easy. A glass of water, a stretch session, journaling, 5 minutes outside, a short walk?
• Sleep habits – your usual sleep routine might be disrupted, but you can set keystone habits around not having your phone in the bedroom or your bedtime cut-off point.
• Mindful eating – keystone habits around eating help manage your health and wellbeing. These might be eating protein with every meal, fruit and veg every day, sober days, or whatever works for you.
• Move your body – come up with keystone habits around exercise and activity, making sure they are things you can easily do every day. Ideas include 5 minutes of stretching when you wake up, an outdoor walk, and a set number of steps.
• Habit stack – keystone habits are ingrained and easy. Habit stacking is when an easy habit acts as a trigger for extra layers of positive behaviours. For example, if your keystone habit is drinking a glass of water in the morning, you could habit stack 5 minutes of stretching as you drink that glass of water.

Wishing you a healthy holiday period

The festive period is different for everyone. Whether you’re rushed off your feet driving the length and breadth of the country, or staying at home, take small steps to make the holidays a little healthier. Not only will it help you feel physically and mentally better at the time, but it’ll act as a springboard for better results in the New Year.

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