Here’s How To Stay Fit & Healthy This Holiday Season
Whether there’s snow on the ground or a chill in the air, one thing’s certain. Winter is here. And while it’s easy to want to stay bundled up and sedentary this holiday season, prolonged inactivity can lead to weight gain, stiff joints, and/or general lethargy.
A better way to stay on track with your health and fitness goals this winter? Keep moving that body! And no, you don’t have to brave sub-zero temperatures to keep up your cardio. We’ve got plenty of indoor activities to share, courtesy of Elkind Nourishment’s Kathy Elkind. An eating psychology coach, mindful self-compassion teacher, and lover of walking (she’s trekked over 1,200 miles across Europe in 2018!), Kathy recently shared her fave tips that are sure to keep us all moving and grooving this winter.
Start With Just 10 Minutes A Day
Sometimes, the biggest stumbling block to making exercise happen daily is the idea that you have to do it for an hour to make a difference. According to Elkind, this just isn’t true. Any amount of movement makes a difference when it comes to keeping your body limber. Of course, the benefits increase when you get your heart rate up and break a sweat. But at the end of the day, 10 minutes is better than nothing. (And those 10 minutes count in the Fit For Bucks app!)
Find What Makes Your Body Feel Good
Another common myth about exercise – you have to hit it hard and/or hate it to get results. And while it may be true that HIIT, or high intensity interval training generates quick results for devotees of the intense, burst-like training model, you don’t have to punish your body or hate your workout to get and/or stay fit this winter. Elkind encourages us to find activities we enjoy – from dancing or walking to hiking, biking, skating, skiing, and/or dancing to our fave music. Just get moving and enjoy it!
Have Fun
The greatest benefit of doing what makes your body feel good? You have fun AND you’re more inclined to be consistent throughout the colder winter months. Elkind encourages you to get creative – roller skate in your basement (if you’ve got one), dance with silk scarves, shovel the deck while rocking out to 80s music, make a game out of climbing the stairs in your house. The key here is to get creative and enjoy yourself. Don’t take exercise – or yourself – too seriously.
Enlist A Friend
What keeps more people consistent when it comes to daily exercise? It’s not willpower. It’s friend power. Elkind recommends recruiting a friend to join you in your daily exercise. Again, you don’t have to go to a gym or formal workout class. You can literally invite a friend over for a dance party in your living room. Or get creative and have a snow shoveling contest in your driveway. Or use the cold weather as motivation to pick up the pace and jog/run instead of walk with your bestie, spouse, and/or loved ones.
So how will you move your body this winter? What inspires you to stay healthy, active, and agile? We want to hear from you! Post a comment below and let us know how you’re staying fit this holiday season.