Christmas festivities can have repercussions that last a lot longer than one merry day.
A few extra calories quickly turn into a few kilos and before you know it half a year of good work can be undone.
We tend to have too much Christmas puddling and that’s washed down with a few drinks too many, we get on the scales after those big sessions and we’re well over that we were before. In fact, it’s not just Christmas that’s to blame, but the entire summer holiday season.
But this doesn’t have to be the case, we should look at this time as being an opportunity to exercise. If children are home you can do something active with them, play a game, go for a walk, this benefits the fitness of the entire family.
Now is a good time to assess you fitness goals for the year. New Year’s resolutions could work but only if approached correctly.
Goals need to be realistic but challenging.
If we set the bar too low, then the benefits are going to be insignificant. If you set it too high and it becomes impossible to achieve, it’s going to be demonstralising.
If you say you want to walk 30 minutes a day three times a week for one month, that’s a behavior change.
If you say you want to walk 5km in 40 minutes by the end of the month then that’s an outcome.