Taking the time to rest both your mind and body over the holidays is essential, so you can bounce back full of motivation to achieve great results! The key to a strong and smooth transition back into the studio is moving your body a little everyday, to allow recovery, while staying strong and in shape. Balance during the holidays is key- do a little bit of everything to keep your mind & body satisfied & fresh.
Setting achievable goals and knowing what you need to work on to reach them, will help you stay motivated! Creating a maintainable holiday schedule is an excellent solution to remain on track: by exercising regularly and fuelling your body correctly, you’ll enjoy the process of working towards your goals! Balance is key to longevity & we want to move & fuel our body with a balance of different foods, relaxation methods & exercise methods. Doing this will keep us motivated & excited for the year ahead- rather than starting the year feeling burnt out.
I always talk about taking care of both your body and mind, because I truly believe that mindset is everything! Everyday you make a choice to either make an excuse or create a result. By maintaining a mindset of wanting to improve, you are bound to succeed, even on holidays!
Start by listing out your goals, and how you will accomplish them. If, for example, achieving your splits is your number one goal, select five key exercises from the Splits & Hamstring Category and aim to complete them five times a week, for a month or two during the holidays. Have you ever noticed when you return from the holidays your muscles are naturally more flexible in your hamstrings, feet, hips? This is because our muscles aren’t in the studio everyday being strengthened, so instead they completely relax. You want to take advantage of this and make your muscles even more flexible- so whilst you have extra time during holidays and your muscles are in ‘relaxation mode’, use that time to work on your flexibility. When you return from holidays and start back up in the new year, your flexibility will be the best it’s ever been because:
1) Committed to daily exercises whilst you had time
2) Naturally our muscles have relaxed, so the extra flexibility Key Exercises will enhance it even further.
Setting up a schedule will help keep you accountable for both exercise and rest throughout the Christmas holidays. Completing your key exercises to help you reach your goals will take only 20-30 minutes out of your day & you’ll feel accomplished once you’ve completed them. During holidays, you’ll still have so much time left to do all the other activities you love too like running, swimming, fishing or painting! Having a clear vision of what achieving your goal looks like will help you ignore that little voice in your head making up excuses, instead motivating you to keep working towards a better version of yourself!
Create a vision board and a timeline, so you have an additional reminder of what you are striving for!
Surrounding yourself with people who motivate you and inspire you to reach your goals is the best way to stay active! Everything is more fun with a buddy - Maybe you can find a family member or friend to complete Coachmas with, at any time during the holidays? With access to a different topic each day, you’ll be excited and keen to get stuck into exercise every single day.
The festive season is a time to relax, enjoy time with your dear ones and not overthink food choices. Allow yourself to take a break from the year, letting your body recover and giving it the time off it deserves! Celebrate this wonderful time of the year, enjoy delicious meals and remember that food is their to fuel your body & needs to repair and recharge for next year!
I love using the extra time over the holidays to create new recipes: Pasta dishes, desserts, açai bowls, wraps & curries, to enjoy with my family and friends! Try experimenting in the kitchen and treating your loved ones to a yummy, healthy meal!
Balance and excellent time management is the key to making the best out of the holiday season: finding the time to relax, setting aside a moment to set goals regularly and allocating a small part of everyday to move your body and work towards those goals will ensure you start the new year off on the right foot and enjoy the festive season with balance.
CD X
