The holiday season is a time to escape our daily routines, indulge in delicious food, and spend quality time with family and friends. At the same time, continuing to exercise and support healthy habits can feel challenging because we’re stepping out of our usual routines.

How to stay motivated during the festive season and find a balance between physical activity and holiday cheer? Here are some practical tips and suggestions from MyFitness personal trainer Kadri Paat.

Set realistic goals for yourself

During the holidays, you don’t have to aim to stick to your regular workout routine. For example, if you usually train four times a week, during the holidays two or three times a week may be enough. It is important to understand that any physical activity is good!

For example, a 20-minute home workout, a walk outside, or sledding and building a snowman with your kids are also valuable activities that allow you to spend time with loved ones. Realistic goals keep your motivation high and help avoid feeling guilty when things don’t go as planned.

Integrate activity and movement into your Christmas activities

During the holidays, exercise doesn’t have to separate you from spending time with family and friends. On the contrary, you can make exercise part of your Christmas spirit! Fun workouts lift your spirits and bring joy.

Here are some ideas:

• Organize family sports competitions, such as building a snowman or snow fort, or sledding challenge.
• Taking a walk around your neighborhood during the holidays to admire the Christmas lights is a great way to spend time while staying physically active and enjoying the Christmas spirit.
• Hit the gym or join a group workout with family or friends: Working out together is a healthy and fun way to spend time, and it also gives you more motivation to move before or during the holidays. Check out MyFitness’ schedule to find something cool and fun to train together!

MyFitness also offers group workouts or personal training sessions just for you and your friends and family. Motivation to exercise can be greatly increased when you work out with a personal trainer who will create a plan based on your goals. Working out together makes the holiday season fun and motivating; and allows you to spend more time together. Here you will find MyFitness personal trainers, whom you can contact if you wish.

If time is limited during the holidays, you can prefer short but effective and thoughtful workouts.

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Choose quality over quantity

If time is limited during the holidays, you can prefer short but effective and thoughtful workouts.

• Short workouts: For example, 20-30 minutes of strength training is more beneficial than skipping a workout altogether. Also, with a well-thought-out gym routine, you can get a very versatile workout in 30 minutes.

I recommend doing exercises that cover more muscle groups during your workouts – for example, you can add weighted squats, deadlifts, overhead and front pulldowns, chest presses to your workout plan.

• Plan your workouts ahead of time: While schedules are often more flexible during the holidays, simple planning can help you find time to exercise. Set specific times for movement and mark them on your calendar. For example, you might do a quick warm-up in the morning before you start your Christmas chores – then you’ll be free to enjoy all the moments the holidays bring.
• Train with a professional: If you feel like you really want to train but lack the knowledge and motivation, I recommend working with a personal trainer during the holidays; trainer will schedule specific training times with you and help you stay motivated.

Enjoy the holidays without feeling guilty

The holidays are full of temptations – gingerbread, blood sausage, candy and cookies are simply irresistible, and that’s perfectly normal! It’s important to understand that a healthy lifestyle does not mean extreme self-restraint. Moderation is key.

• Enjoy in moderation: Enjoy your favorite treats but balance them with activity and healthier options.
• Find a balance: The holiday season is meant to be fun and enjoy food with loved ones. While you shouldn’t deny yourself your favorite Christmas foods, I recommend finding a balance between food and exercise.

Maintain your body and spirit skillfully

It is important to understand that physical activity is a way to not only keep fit and burn calories, but also relieve stress and improve your mood.

• Recharge your batteries with exercise. The holidays can be stressful: shopping for gifts, cooking, and socializing with a lot of people can be overwhelming. However, exercise and movement allow you to take time just for yourself!
• Workout with a loved one: The gym is a great opportunity to strengthen close relationships, have a good chat, and do something good for your health at the same time. When we work out, we challenge our bodies, but our brains get a break, new thoughts and ideas arise, and we become better companions for our loved ones because our spirit is nurtured.
• Relax: If your workout doesn’t go as planned and you miss a few sessions, don’t be discouraged. Resting your body and mind is just as important as physical activity.

Enjoy holiday food and spend quality time with your loved ones without feeling guilty, because balance is key. Also, remember that during the holidays, exercise shouldn’t just be a chore – make it something fun and bonding. Any activity will keep you energized and in a good mood.

We wish you the joy of movement and bright holidays!

Your MyFitness