Holiday Fitness Ideas and Tips

The summer holidays are known for food, festivities and feeling flat at the end of it all! You can easily avoid that Boxing Day bloat with a few simple practical steps.

1. Eat a hearty, nutritious breakfast

By starting every day with a substantial breakfast, you avoid overeating and ensure your metabolism is awake and satiated before the indulgence starts. Ensue you include high protein options such as yoghurt, eggs or even a protein shake. This will keep you full and sustained while you prepare meals or organise travel to your events and family occasions. 

2. Stay hydrated: stick to water with meals.

Alcohol and coffee consumption can easily skyrocket once the holiday break begins (and in the last few weeks of work). They become a vicious partnership as you use coffee to get through sluggish mornings and wind down from lunch with wine and spirits. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) has a technique where you can associate a new habit with an existing one to produce a change in behaviour. Add more water to your day by ensuring you have a large glass of water with every meal (and snacks). This will reduce false appetite; keep you hydrated and break any unconscious drinking habits which creep up over the holidays.

3. 30 minutes of novelty a day

The change in routine over the holidays makes keeping a routine almost impossible. You might be relaxing away from home or trying to prepare your home for guests and visitors- how do you find time to workout? One strategy is to make yourself do an activity advent (like the advent calendars with chocolate) where you find a new activity to do every day for only 30 minutes.

Some ideas include:

• Learn a YouTube or TikTok dance routine with friends or family

• Take a 30 minute Christmas lights walking tour of your neighbourhood

• Use social media to see if any of your friends need their pets walked and take their pet out for 30 minutes (and be a great friend!).

• Download the GeoCaching app and see what is hidden around your area.

• Hire snorkel gear and explore the shore dives on the Sunshine or Gold Coast

• Set a timer and do a 30 minute prune of trees in your yard- a quick tidy up can make all the difference!

We’d love to hear your ideas- next year we may put the best ideas together for a 12 weeks before Christmas fitness challenge!

Keep moving now and thank yourself in the New Year!