10 Weeks To Fitness For Christmas

Prepare to stay fit and well over the holiday break with our 10 Weeks To Fitness For Christmas Challenge.

WEEK 1: Preparation

Once you have a well laid out plan, you are much more likely to stick with it. So this week is all about getting prepared. Here's what to do:

Sit down with your calendar and lock in all your organised training sessions for the next 10 weeks.
Now block out additional times for walks / swims / bike rides, ensuring you have 3 exercise sessions diarised each week.
Go through the cupboard and fridge and remove (or at least hide) any "less healthy" foods that you find difficult to avoid.
Head to the shops and fill the fridge and cupboards with nutritious, easy to prepare foods.
Have some prepped foods ready for the coming days / weeks by chopping veggies and fruit and creating some bulk meals, soups etc.

OK that's it for this week. It's really encouraging to share our achievements, struggles, recipe ideas etc with each other. If you've made an easy dinner, had a great training session or even if you just need a bit of encouragement, please jump on the members page and let us know. xx

WEEK 2: Count To Ten

The challenge this week is to reduce unhealthy activities from your day (such as mindless snacking) and make decisions based on what we know will make us healthier and happier. By briefly pausing before you undertake an action, you may be surprised by how many different decisions you make.

ACTION GOAL: Stop and count to 10 before you:

reach for / eat food (am I really hungry?)
open the wine bottle (do I need a glass tonight?)
swipe open the phone (is this important or a time waster?)
turn on the computer (is it time to work, or should it be family / relaxing time?)
turn on the TV (would my time be better spent doing something else such as exercising?)
press the snooze button (will I regret this later?)

Once you've counted to 10, if you decide to follow through on the action, then you have made a controlled, conscious decision and you should go ahead and enjoy!

WEEK 3: Move More

The challenge this week is to inject more movement into every day. As more parties appear in your diary, and the food and drink is flowing, we need to keep the balance of energy input to output on track. So let's get moving with these ideas:

Never sit and wait: If you arrive early to a meeting, are on the sidelines of a sporting event, or waiting for a train, move. Run laps around the oval, walk around the streets or up and down the station platform. Just move.
Have your favourite podcast ready to go: This is a great motivation for me to get out and go for a walk or jog as I want to catch up on the latest in whatever podcast I am currently in to.
Make the most of the longer days: As the weather is warming up and the days are getting longer, head outside for a run / walk / ride early morning or late evening. There really is no better way to start or finish your day.
Use the online classes: We now have more than 60 online classes that you can do anytime, anywhere. They range from 15 minute sessions to 45 minutes and, let’s be honest, we can all find 15 minutes spare in our day.

Let's get moving as much as we can over the next few weeks. 2020 has been a tough year, but there's no reason we can't make it through feeling fit and strong, ready for whatever lies ahead in 2021. xx

WEEK 4: Balance Nutrition

It’s likely that our diaries are becoming crowded with events as we endeavour to catch up with family and friends. This will bring us lots of joy, as well as lots of food and drink. As we continue our challenge to make it to Christmas feeling fit and fantastic, here are some steps we can take to keep our nutrition in balance:

Ensure “at home” meals are as healthy as possible to balance the increase in eating out.
When faced with cheese platters and finger food, we often over eat as we don’t realise how much we are consuming. To combat this, put the food you are going to eat on a plate before you start eating so you can keep track of the amount you consume.
Avoid seconds. No matter how delicious something is, it doesn’t taste any better the second time you eat it - you know you always regret that second helping!
Alcohol is packed with calories and is many people’s health downfall during the holidays. I strongly encourage trying to stick with 5 dry nights a week even at this time of year. Keep your water intake high to stay full and hydrated. Try drinking mineral water flavoured with mint, lime, lemon or berries.
If you’re hosting the event, base your menu around seasonal fruit and vegetables, fresh seafood and lean meats like turkey and chicken breast. Fill the table with colourful salads. It is possible to keep food healthy and delicious.

There is no reason you can’t enjoy delicious meals over the coming weeks, as long as you get the balance right.

WEEK 5: Reset

As we hit the halfway mark in our “10 Weeks To Fitness For Christmas” challenge, this is a great opportunity to consider how to use the reset button on a daily or weekly basis. No matter how committed we are to fitness and health, the coming weeks will throw us some curveballs. We may eat too much, drink too much, skip training sessions, not get enough sleep or work too hard. Therefore this week's focus is on how to create a reset moment each day, and a reset day each week. Here’s what to do:

Daily reset:

Schedule a moment in your day that is your reset moment. This may be something you already do, or something you need to create. No matter what is happening in your day, this moment will allow you to stop, breathe and reset. Examples include:

Reading a book before you go to sleep (this is the reset I go to every night).
Go for a walk around the block.
Enjoy a cup of herbal tea without doing anything else (e.g. no phone scrolling).
Take 10 minutes to do something creative such as playing an instrument, sewing, painting.
Write in a journal.

Weekly reset:

Schedule a day in your week that is your reset day. On this day, enjoy healthy, nutritious food and do some exercise. Avoid alcohol and get 7 or more hours sleep that night . Obviously these sorts of days should appear in your week as often as possible, however as more social events appear in the calendar, scheduling a specific “reset day” each week will be essential to keep your health and fitness on track.

When you feel things starting to spin out of control, just take a breath and reset! xx

WEEK 6: HIIT Every Day

With just over a month until Christmas, the diary is filling up and the hours in our day are slowly disappearing. This is often the time when our exercise program starts to fall by the wayside as we skip training to get the Christmas shopping done, or we are too tired to get up early for our run after a late night event.

HIIT stands for High Intensity Interval Training - short bursts of high intensity exercise followed by a short period of rest. When we push our body out of its comfort zone for a few seconds, there are a number of health benefits. It's not advisable to do an entire HIIT session (i.e. 20 minutes or more) every day (I recommend 3 x a week) but adding 1 minute of high intensity movement into each day can have great health benefits.

Suggestions include:

Sprint up the stairs as fast as you can.
Do 10 burpees in the ad break of your favourite show.
Run up a hill.
Swim a lap of the pool as fast as you can.
Race your kids to the corner of the street. (Or, as was suggested at training this morning, run quickly away from your kids when they are being difficult... )

Obviously, don’t roll out of bed feeling stiff and tight and go straight into 10 burpees - you may actually break something! You need to be relatively warm and mobile to perform a high intensity movement. The movement needs to last for around 10 - 20 seconds, take a 10 second rest and aim to repeat it 2-3 times.

Challenge yourself this week to add a 1 minute of HIIT to your day, every day.

WEEK 7: Alleviate Stress With Gratitude

Some stress during the holiday season is to be expected. There are parties to plan, gifts to buy, school events to attend (or watch via Zoom), relatives to meet etc. All of this can be tough on us both physically and mentally. So in this week’s 10 Weeks To Fitness For Christmas challenge I am going to suggest a list of things NOT to do, and then one thing we CAN do to help alleviate the holiday stress.

WHAT NOT TO DO:

Reach for sugar, caffeine or alcohol.
Stay up late to “get one more thing done”.
Skip training sessions.
Over-book yourself. Running from one event to the next creates stress and takes away the joy.

WHAT TO DO:

Practice gratitude

Many studies have found that people who consciously focus on the positive areas of their lives tend to be happier and less stressed. Research on the brain offers a clearer understanding as to why gratitude is so powerful, but in simple terms the more you focus on the positives, the less the negative situations weigh you down.

Every day this week write down 3 things you are grateful for. You can write it in a journal, on your phone or even on a scrap of paper.

To find out more on why gratitude can reduce stress and anxiety, click on this link.

WEEK 8: Rely on Routine

I am guessing that no one has a "normal" week ahead of them. With the end of school events, work lunches, family celebrations, Christmas shopping etc., routine can fall by the wayside.

And yet, in terms of keeping your health on track, now is when routine becomes more important than ever. No matter how busy your week gets, it's essential to keep some regular activities in place in order to ensure you are getting the exercise, nutrition and rest your body needs to keep going strong.

Routine tips:

Back in week 1 we were challenged to lock in our training sessions for the weeks ahead. Now is the time to check in and make sure these sessions haven’t been pushed aside. If you have missed any group training sessions this term, get your make up classes booked in now so they are in the diary.
If you know your days and evenings are busy, commit to getting up early to exercise - Tues and Thurs 6am sessions may be an option?
If you're eating out more than usual, set up a routine of healthy meals when you're at home to create balance.
Develop a regular bedtime routine to assist with your sleep e.g. turn off all screens at a set time, have a warm shower, enjoy a herbal tea or read a book before bed.

In these busy times, keeping some semblance of routine will give you the energy to then enjoy the moments that will bring you joy. Routine doesn't restrict freedom. It creates it.

WEEK 9: Drink Smart

Not surprisingly, a survey conducted by Australian charity FebFast found that December and January are the greatest periods of alcohol consumption throughout the year. During the festive season, people who usually drink one day a week tend to drink 3 or more days a week and one-third of Australians will consume more than 10 standard drinks a week.

Every time you drink alcohol your body needs to work to remove the toxins from your system, creating extra stress. Alcohol is also full of calories, so often contributes to weight gain over the holiday season.

Here are some simple tips to Drink Smart in the coming weeks:

Even during this busy time, aim to have at least 4 days off alcohol each week.
Space alcoholic drinks with non-alcoholic alternatives like mineral water.
Manage portions by using smaller glasses - some wine goblets hold one-third of a bottle! And although it can be more cost effective to buy a bottle of wine when out at a restaurant, portion control is easier when purchasing by the glass.
Try placing your glass on a table when pouring a drink: a study conducted by Cornwell University found that you’ll put 12 per cent less in it than if you are holding it when filling up.
If it’s warm, you’ll drink wine or beer faster to quench your thirst. Therefore start your night with a non alcoholic drink so when you move to the wine or beer you are drinking simply for enjoyment and will tend to go at a slower pace.

By following some of these simple tips, you may find that you are less likely to overindulge and will make it through Christmas feeling fit and fantastic.

WEEK 10: Remember The Reason

Christmas can mean different things to different people. For some, it’s a time to celebrate the birth of Jesus. For others it's the opportunity to spend time with family and friends. For some it’s a break from work, time with the kids. I also acknowledge that Christmas can be a difficult time for some people who may be missing family and friends, and feeling lonely and isolated.

Our challenge this week is to care for our well-being by staying focussed on the wonderful things that this time of year brings. Let’s try not to let the “bells and whistles” overwhelm us. Christmas is not about producing the perfect turkey, or serving the most delicious mince pies, or beautifully wrapped presents. It’s about celebrating Jesus, or spending time with the people we love, or being thankful that we have made it through what has been the strangest year of our lives.

Here are 3 simple ways to “Remember the Reason” this Christmas

Write down 3 things that signify what Christmas means to you. Stick them up where you can see them.
Pare back on the things you find most stressful: consider buying less gifts and instead give to a charity on someone's behalf, choose recipes that are simple and delicious rather than going overboard.
When you feel yourself becoming overwhelmed with everything you have to do, go back and read the 3 things that signify what Christmas means to you.

Remember your reason for celebrating Christmas this season, and stay fit and well into 2021. xx

By Angie Black