Working Out During the Holidays: 5 Keys to Healthy Holidays

Parties, family obligations, trips and last-minute shopping can leave you feeling drain during the holidays.

Even those consistent with their workouts may be feeling the stress to skip exercising to get something else done. However, that 30-60 minutes is going to get used up one way or another – so why not find a good balance?

After all, getting in your workouts help give you energy, reduce stress and tension and burn off extra calories!

5 Tips for Working Out During the Holidays

1. Plan – Don’t Stress

The holidays are a busy, crazy time of year. Focus on your workout being a time to de-stress, renew, and just for you.

Make some “you time” a priority. With how crazy the holiday season is, your 30-minute workout might be the only place where you know how your time was spent!

If you’re traveling, look for ways to stay active by:

• searching for a running or hiking trail nearby
• researching whether the hotel has an exercise room or not
• consider packing a computer and streaming your workouts
• try a short HIIT workout that doesn’t require equipment like the one below.

Try to plan your workout schedule beforehand. Even if you have to change it (which is likely when you’re traveling), you’ve already made a commitment to exercise. It’s easier to stick with it when you have it planned than to squeeze it in later.

Be Okay if Plans Change – It’s Not Worth Stressing

If you overindulge one day or miss a workout, don’t stress. It’s not about what you do occasionally, it’s about what you do most days. If you’re following a healthy, balanced mindset you’ll be on track soon enough.

The “all or nothing” attitude doesn’t serve anyone. Instead, praise yourself for sticking to healthy routines most of the time.

You may also like: How to Stress Less at the Holidays: 3 Simple Tips

2. Make it Doable and Fun

Since the holidays can be stressful on their own, make your workouts realistic. It can even be fun to make it something outdoors or with your family.

The idea is to modify your workout schedule versus taking on an “all or nothing” attitude. If you’re doing a 60-minute workout normally, maybe it’s time to try a 20-30 minute one.

Struggling to do half an hour? 

Turn it chores into your workout or start a new family tradition.

There are tons of holiday-themed fun runs all over the country. Sign up for one, or choose a fun hike to try. We also love playing in the snow and ice skating to burn some major calories.

Check out our: 12 Ways to Burn More Calories During the Holidays

3. Workout at Home

We love working out at home all year, but even if you’re a gym junkie an at home workout might be perfect for you this time of year.

Working out at home saves you time and also is a fail-proof way to make sure it happens.

Even if it snows or traffic is crazy, you always pop in a DVD to workout. I love the 21 Day Fix for a quick, challenging workout.

You might also like: Avoid Holiday Weight Gain – 13 Ways to Stay Healthy During the Holidays

4. Fight Excuses

Working out during the holidays is hard. With everything going on, don’t find excuses to skip your workout.

Do it first thing in the morning and let your family know this is “your time.” It’s just 30 minutes, and it will help your focus and energy the rest of the day!

Remember, you will never regret working out, but you will regret not doing it.

Fight Excuses By….

• Putting on your workout clothes first thing in the morning
• Pack a workout that doesn’t use equipment if you travel. T25 or TurboFire are two of my favorite workouts and perfect for traveling.
• Beachbody on Demand allows you to stream over 700+ workouts anywhere there is WiFi!
• Just start the workout. In 5 minutes– I bet you will feel better or at least finish the workout!
• Remember WHY you are doing it! Is it to look hot at your 10-year reunion? Better your health? Being there for your kids?
• Visualize yourself at the end of the workout and how you feel

Also check out: 6 Tips to Achieve Your Healthy Goals During the Holidays

5. Accountability

There are other people out there trying to stay motivated and committed to working out during the holidays too!

My online fit family helps me survive the holiday gatherings and motivate me to stick to my goals. They understand if I am slipping up, and they encourage me on a daily basis.

The idea of finding a group to connect with – in person or online – is that if you’ve told someone you’ll workout, you’re more likely to stick to that promise.

For me, I didn’t have that kind of support group locally so I started an online group. Years later, the members are like family and know me better than some of the people I see in person on a daily basis.

We share our meals, tips, questions, motivation, slip-ups, and also do a monthly reward in the group.

If you’d like access to our year-round accountability group email us at thegirls@soreyfitness.com.

Holidays are full of plans–just remember your workouts are plans!

You are doing so much for others this season, and you deserve some “me” time.

You may also like: Working Out While You’re Sick – Is It a Good Idea?

So What Happens If You’re Not Working Out During the Holidays?

Have you ever wondered how much your workouts matter? We sure have!

So we dug into the research, and we found some scary news.

It doesn’t take long for your body to lose the strength, endurance and aerobic power you’ve built up. Bummer, right?!

So if you can keep to a workout routine, it does make a difference.

All hope isn’t lost though if you decide to take a break – even getting in a little activity each day can help keep your body in shape.

If you do decide to take a break, ask yourself how much time will you take off? Ideally, it’ll be less than 4 weeks. We actually do take a break the week before Christmas to the 27th. It just keeps us sane! Then we jump back into our normal routine on the 28th.

We hope these tips will help you find the balance between your crazy to-do list and taking a little time for you.

What are your tips for working out during the holidays?

If you find that working out during the holidays is just too much for you, no worries. We have a 21 Day Challenge starting in January to help kickstart your healthy habits in the new year. We hope you can join us!

You might also enjoy:

• How to Stress Less at the Holidays – 3 Simple Tips
• Our Healthy Holidays Series