BALANCING THE HOLIDAYS

10 Tips On Finding Holiday-Season Balance with Diet and Exercise

By Felicia Mae Hendricks, Model and NASM certified trainer

Ring Ring! It’s the loud sound of the holiday-season bells, ringing just for you.

So… you’re You awake and human. Therefore, you like food. But not just any food: good food and the kind of food brought to you by the holidays, in my opinion, is the most tempting. You know, it’s Grandma’s famous rolls and pecan pie. It’s the dishes brought to the table by love, sacrifice in time, and the intention of sharing. And if that’s enough for the “normal” human to consume, while you’re out facing traffic and the lines for your holiday shopping, there is fast food and candy everywhere! The unlimited parties, the booze, and late night hours that cause what? Ladies and gentlemen you guessed it… even more opportunities for food.

Ok so one might ask, “What’s the point here? Is that a problem?”

My response. Hell no! All the above is a part of a good life, but it can be problematic. It’s problematic for the emotional eater, for the one trying to stick to a diet and to lose weight, the daily gym goer, and for me, as a model and certified trainer, well it means a struggle to stay the same size October through January year after year.

Well, dear readers, I am proud to say that I do it. And I do it because I approach what can seem like the impossible goal with the simplest idea. It isn’t a major trend for dieting, added amount of times at the gym per week, or the choice to say no to all those extra goodies. It simply balances them all. I understand the definition of balance to be when we partake in the act of eating, exercise, rest, and social time equally. It isn’t saying no to any of it, but just knowing the right amount of yes and planning ahead. Here are my top 10 tips:

1. Pinpoint Your Cravings

Write down your top cravings, what time of day you drool over them, and what you are doing when you want them more. Things like work, shopping and watching tv can induce them. Next, change it up. If it’s at night, you must have three extra-large chocolate chip cookies with milk, then try having one at breakfast, and then remind yourself at night that you already had your daily choco-ration. It is much easier to control that crossroad when the taste is still in your system, you had the day to work it off, and therefore you really aren’t fully deprived from it.

2. Food Prep and Grocery Planning

If you don’t have the right food in your house or packed for work, then how do you think you are going to get it in? You have to eat, but when you prepare healthier, more balanced meals ahead of time, or quick healthy things that can be thrown together last minute, you will eat better. You will be less hungry for the junk and will have more energy, overall. Also, make sure you’re getting adequate vitamins, minerals, and supplement what you won't get in your food. The mind, energy, and performance you’ll have for exercise depends on it.

3. Plan Your Exercise Time

Everyone is busy, but you don’t miss your one-time annual physical exam that’s hard to get into or that birthday dinner with a friend. So why isn’t the time you spend to care for your body and to feel good about it just as important? Calendar a regular priority appointment, pack your gym bag and go straight before or after work, instead of going home first to be called by the couch during intermission.

4. Hire A Trainer

They won’t only keep you accountable to your exercise routine, but if you don’t

know what exercises to do to target the muscle or body area you want to maintain or change, then how do you expect to get results? Getting adequate rest time in between lift and cardio sessions and understanding the post and pre-workout BCAAs or other supplements you need to fuel it is important. A good trainer can teach you all about it.

5. Portions Are Everything!

Did you know that your stomach shrinks over time when you eat less? Try grabbing the dessert plate for your meal, instead of the full-size dinner one. Your mind responds beautifully to allowing your body the needed calories for proper function, but also can learn that it can be satisfied by less vs. more.

6. Seek Professional Help

There are many mental and physical complications that can trigger excess eating or a lack of physical energy to exercise. There are safe appetite suppressants that can be prescribed by a medical professional, counseling, and resources out there to find the deeper issues causing the lack of control. Addressing those can often lead to huge shifts in your ability to stay committed to diet and exercise.

7. Choose Exercise That Is Fun

Do you like to dance? Socialize at the gym? Or walk the dog outside? Whatever your preferred method of exercise, if you don’t enjoy it, well then you are much less likely to stick with it. So choose an activity that is more likely to make you happy and to satisfy you after. Then check in with that trainer to make sure you are hitting the right heart rate for regular fat burning aerobic activity and isolating your muscles enough through weight bearing exercise to keep and gain results. And remember, the choice of activity can’t always be easy, you do need to be challenged.

8. Don’t Give Up

Everyone hits that point where it’s like, “Ok, once again I missed the gym and ordered a pizza.” At that moment, go back to Step 1. Why? What? Where? How? Learn about yourself and make changes to the normal routine and choices for food. The shock value stimulates growth and gives room for progress from the same old thing. I tip my hat to the old saying, “If at first you don’t succeed, try again.”

9. Balance Includes Rest

I love doing yoga, deep stretching, and as hard as it can be to get a full eight hours … in a nutshell, sleep is everything. Your body is much better regulated on good sleep and a clear mind. Meditation and recovery activities like yoga and getting a massage, I found reduce my stress a lot and I am just overall happier and more level headed. It allows the room to make smart choices with all of the above and eventually, good habits form where you won’t go without it anymore.

10. Love Yourself

I challenge you to look in the mirror every day and give yourself a compliment.

Focus on what you are doing right versus what you think you’re doing wrong. I have found that the more times I’ve met the mirror with that target, the more motivated I was to make better overall lifestyle choices so I would have more good things to say. Forgive yourself for not being perfect – it’s boring. Your curves, freckles, bump nose, whatever it is, it all equals up to you! Get to know yourself. It will help you better choose the diet, exercise, and life that fits, and more importantly is maintainable for life.

Hello holidays, here we come… and we’re coming in hot, with some holiday confidence! Cheers to better balancing your diet and exercise with all you have to celebrate this year.

Felicia Mae Hendricks

@feliciamaehendricks