Think You Don’t Need a Plan For Your Health Goals During the Holidays? Think Again!

It’s 6:30 pm and feels like it’s already halfway through the night. As you sit bundled up in a blanket with your drink of choice, that aching voice you’ve tried to dismiss comes back for yet another reminder: “It’s already mid-November! How did this year go by so fast?!”

Then, your mind starts to drift, even if you tell it not to. You think about your 2019 health goals, and even though you may have started off great, somewhere along the way you fell off track. We all do it, and the end of the year always sounds like the best time to beat ourselves up for the times we strayed from our goals and force ourselves to start anew when the fresh year hits.

If you’re anything like me, you know the last few months of the year are the most challenging when it comes to staying on track with your health goals. Between the avalanche of sugar that comes with Halloween, to the coma-inducing feast on Thanksgiving and the wide array of holiday parties in December, the calories start to tack on faster than the credit card bills.

Now it seems like there’s so little time left this year to accomplish your goals. Maybe you wanted to lose weight, get stronger, lower your cholesterol, or get ahold of your blood pressure. Perhaps you just want to feel better about your overall health. You wonder if you should just throw your hands up and indulge in anything that comes your way, or give yourself one last push before the year is up.

Sound familiar?

Well, before you get too involved with that voice in your head, just remember: It’s the holidays! Who wants to feel restricted and disciplined around this time of year? Not me!

Even if you have a list of reasons you deserve to take it easy alongside a todo list you’re still pretending not to ignore, there’s no reason to add more stress on yourself. If you do, you’ll end up wasting your time on a quick-fix program that won’t make you feel any better.

Invest in something nice for yourself, for once.

Allow yourself to sleep in or watch a movie instead of forcing an exercise.

Thankfully, December doesn’t have to be a toss-up between feeling guilty for overindulging and freaking out about trying to be everyone’s everything. Staying on track with your health and fitness goals should never be such a mental, emotional, or time-stressed burden.

In fact, if you simply detail a structured plan, find an accountability partner and a coach with the tools you need to continue successfully exercising through this stressful month, I bet you’ll feel better about yourself in no time.

When January hits and everyone else scrambles to reinvent themselves again by setting unrealistic goals they run into blindly, you’ll be trotting away on your steady path of healthy habits with a lot less stress than everyone else around you.

Sound good?

I thought so.

If you’re interested in finding out how Monterey Bay Moves can help you out, check out our Sleigh the Holidays 28-Day Online Course with yours truly, Coach Elizabeth.

See you there!