It’s that time of the year again. Christmas markets are held everywhere, parties get organised and we plan our holidays. The holiday season is meant to be a wonderful time of the year. But December can also be stressful, lonely and unhealthy.

The December festivities, with dinners and drinks, busy schedules and Christmas stress lead often to weight gain. This lifestyle is unhealthy and keep our fitness goals to become fit and healthy far away.

In this blog post I’d like to provide you with tips so that you not only “survive” this wonderful time of year but also thrive so that you stay healthy and on track.

1. Plan your day ahead

If you don’t plan your day you will fail. This rule I always use in daily life but this is even more important at this time of year. Think ahead about what you will bring to a party, make a grocery list (and stick to it), make sure your bag is full of healthy snacks and water when you go for Christmas shopping and be sure you eat a healthy breakfast before you leave the house (so no temptation to eat all those Christmas cookies). Ah and of course, keep on maintaining your workouts. 30 to 45 minutes is only what you need and if you plan this time there is no problem to schedule it into your day.

2. Eat before you go party crashing

Its the same as going grocery shopping on an empty stomach…. Going to a party on an empty stomach is a no go! Make sure you eat something small one hour before you go. A handful nuts, some veggies with hummus or a piece of fruit will save you from having a food attack! Whilst at the party my tip to keep your alcohol intake acceptable is to take a glass of water after every glass of bubbles.

3. Now be realistic here!

It’s good not to lose yourself totally and it is important to keep an eye on your fitness goals. But this time of year is full of temptations and being too hard on yourself will lead to stress and unhappiness and will set you up for failure. So having a cheat day is OK but only when you enjoy that moment the fullest without any regret. When it comes to training I can only say that staying focused on your fitness goals is great.  but leave the weight loss goals for January. Goals about how you perform are better choices now. How about “I will squat 5 times more before December ends”, “I will workout two times per week the whole month of December”, “I will do 5 exercises of The TWC-Ibiza Youtube Channel every second day until January 1”.

4. Keep on training

You can be extremely busy over the holiday season. But being busy is no reason to skip your training. On The Workout Club Ibiza’s Youtube channel you’ll find workouts that you can do anywhere, anyplace, anytime. Just plan (tip 1 in this blog post) 30-45 minutes in your busy schedule to do your exercises to stay on track and to jumpstart your fitness regime easily after the holiday season.

Happy Holidays!

Written by Marisa