I have a little secret… just about all of us are struggling this week. There are a number of factors that are affecting some or maybe even all of us RIGHT NOW… Do any of these sound like you???
- Feeling puffy and bloated from the holiday festivities.
- Feeling guilty about all the things I ate and drank.
- Having trouble getting to the gym.
- Even having trouble finding the motivation once I am in the gym.
- Scared/worried/anxious about “losing everything I have worked for”.
- The holiday obligations keep piling up faster than my laundry and dirty dishes.
- I feel this bad now… and the holiday season just started!!!
Do any of these sound like you? At least a few of them ring true for anyone who is concerned about their fitness. The great news is that you can ease off without taking 10 steps back.
I also indulged in plenty of eating and drinking during last week’s festivities. My strategy for tackling the holidays is to enjoy fairly responsibly during important gatherings and sticking to clean nutrition the rest of the time. Striving for eating clean 80% of the time during the off-season is the goal. I also choose “hearty” foods as my treats and cheats. I would much rather benefit from the added nutrients along with the added calories.
As much as I love training, the gym becomes a challenge for me too. Striving to hit the weights 4 days per week and to do HIIT for 20-30 minutes 3 days per week is my goal for the holiday season. Would I benefit from sticking to 5 days per week of cardio, 5 days per week of weight training, and 1 day of functional training? Heck yeah! But feeling guilty or down on myself for not accomplishing those very high goals for myself is a self-sabotaging behavior. These bad feeling lead to more bad feelings (which for me, leads to very poor eating choices).
I will be covering off-season goal setting tomorrow to help you stay on track. I have been working on my off-season goals and can tell you that even though I have set some high goals for myself, I will be sticking to this life-style-friendly training and nutrition plan while consistently working towards my goals.
We have to love, honor, and nourish our bodies, not beat them into the submission. So work with the time you have and make sure you are getting your sweat on at least 3 times per week. Besides physique goals, you will benefit from the stress relieving and energy boosting results of your workouts.
Looking to shake things up and add extra hours to your day??? If you haven’t tried a HIIT workout yet, now is the perfect time to try it… 
