The holidays are nothing to be afraid of, especially when you have a plan. As the saying goes, failing to plan is planning to fail. If you don’t prepare yourself for the busy, often crazy holiday seasons, then don’t be surprised if your fitness or personal care are thrown off! Which is why I’ve made this go-to Holiday Survival Guide to help you plan ahead and adapt to whatever surprises come during this special time of the year!

Travel and Exercise:

 Heading back home for the holidays? Worried about getting in a workout? Then check out these posts to keep you on track:

Travel-Friendly Exercise Equipment
Travel-Friendly Workouts
Warrior Wednesday: How to Keep Yourself in Shape When Traveling 

Just a friendly reminder that your body is your own gym. While you can’t lug a bunch of dumbbells into your suitcase, you can use your body weight as resistance! Bodyweight training is not only a cornerstone of the ZGYM, but it’s also the foundation of my fitness. It teaches you the basics while at the same time being open to adaptation according to everyone’s level of fitness. Beginners may start with a squat while advanced exercisers can go on to do a pistol squat. And by the way, as long as you have access to the internet, you can still work out with me at the ZGYM! I’ve got plenty of bodyweight routines as well as hotel workouts.

And if you’re short on time, remember that none of my workouts are ever longer than 30 minutes. Usually, they fall between 15-20 minutes, tops. But if 20 minutes is too much for you, then again, don’t give up yet. I’ve got several workout series for you to choose from- 5 minutes, 8 minutes, 12 minutes.
If you’re a busybody, then check out this guide that’s got your name written all over it! It will teach you how to work out while managing a busy lifestyle.

There’s really no excuse to get your sweat on! It doesn’t matter if you’ve got no equipment, little space, or are short on time. The purpose of my training is to be short, sweet, and intense. It’s quality over quantity!

Check out these time-friendly (but challenging!) workouts: 

5-Minute Burnout
8-Minute Tabata
12-Minute Body
15-Minute Fat Burn
15-Minute Fit Slide 

Next, to working out, be sure to stay on top of your NEAT. NEAT (or non-exercise activity thermogenesis) is the non-workout-related activity that you do throughout the day.

These include: walking, taking the stairs, gardening, chore work, sports, dancing, swimming, skiing, and hiking (amongst plenty others!). 

What does that look like for you? Parking further away from the store. Taking the stairs instead of the escalator or elevator. Carrying groceries in baskets instead of pushing the cart. Inviting people out for a post-dinner walk. Having an epic snowball fight. Hiking a trail before sunset. 

 Just focus on moving throughout the day! It doesn’t have to be complicated.  

For more on NEAT, check out this post here.

Food:

Get ready. Everywhere you look, people are either going to be dropping their diets like flies or are going to go to great lengths to avoid participating in the holiday fare. For me, I believe in a middle approach. It’s OK to enjoy a good meal with friends, especially around the holidays. What’s not OK is forcing yourself to overeat due to pressure. Don’t let the holidays be an excuse to go to extremes and be mindful of your choices and portion sizes.

But because this topic needs more explaining, I’m going to link to a few posts that talk all about preventing overeating and holiday binges.

Surviving Thanksgiving
How to Prevent Overeating
My Advice for Holiday Eating
Five Tips to Help Avoid Binge Eating During the Holidays

And while Christmas isn’t here (yet), I’m going to leave you a bonus post on holiday treat “makeovers.” If you’re in charge of making a dessert or want to bring a dish of your own to the party, you can easily do that just by swapping out ingredients. Instead of sugar, you could go for substitutes like stevia or erythritol. White flour can easily be replaced by almond or coconut flour. Rice and potatoes are easy to swap out for things like cauliflower rice, sweet potatoes, or squash.

 Read the full post here to get started! 

Finally, there’s the issue of eating out, which is something that most of us will encounter during this time of the year. You’ve got friends and family visiting from out of town who want to enjoy a nice dinner at a restaurant. Or, you could be the one that’s visiting, with no access to a kitchen. Again, don’t give up! No kitchen, no problem!

Use this post as your guide to help you eat out and enjoy your food!

Mindset and Self-Care

A while ago, I wrote about The Importance of Self Care, and how it makes you more present and capable of helping others. During the holidays when it seems as though everyone is demanding a lot from you, it’s important not to spread yourself too thin and remember your own needs. Don’t feel like you have to do everything at once. And if you have no choice and are stuck with a hectic schedule, find as many opportunities as you can to do something for yourself. Whether that’s a 5-minute meditation or taking 20-minutes to workout with me, look for hidden pockets of time to breathe and focus on you.

Check out these posts to get your mind right for the holiday season, as well as ways that you can take care of yourself:

How to Start Meditating Today
Christmas Meditation and Decoration
Giveupitis
5 Ways to Unwind After a Stressful Day
A Powerful Tool for Transformation
How to Handle Stress 

The Holidays Are Meant to be Enjoyed!

There’s no need to dread the holidays. They’re the perfect time to bond with your loved ones and let go of stress (not build it). With the right planning, you’ll still be able to maintain your goals, exercise, and nutrition without needing to sacrifice. I hope these tips help you out and let me know what you do to stay happy and healthy during the holidays!