Fitness Inspiration: Staying Healthy During the Holidays

Jaime Filer, Online Editor-In-Chief of Muscle Insider, Canada's #1 Muscle Magazine, is back with another awesome article. In this edition of Fitness Inspiration, she motivates us to use staying healthy during the holidays as an excuse to amp up our fitness goals! Below we let her take it away.

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Disclaimer: I'm assuming if you're reading this, that you do have/have had/are thinking about having 6 Pack meal management bags. This entire post is predicated on the fact that you probably enjoy taking care of yourself, that meal prep/transport isn't a big deal to you, and that you're pretty badass. I read recently that the average American gains between 5-10 lbs. over the holidays between Thanksgiving and New Years. 5-10 lbs.: that's an average gain of about one to two pounds a week for five weeks of fat (it takes a lot more time and work to gain that much muscle in a YEAR, let alone a month). 5 lbs. of fat in 5 weeks! SERIOUSLY!? I will give the readers of this blog some credit, however. Let's cut that number in half because you guys aren't average. But even if you are already more inclined toward staying healthy during the holidays, I'm assuming you do still enjoy spending time with family, friends, and pie. One of my fitness inspirations, Tom Venuto, says, "No one consciously sets a 'goal' to get in worse shape over the holidays. They do it by default. Mentally, people accept the idea that it's impossible to stay in shape because of all the parties, the family get-togethers, and the tempting food, so they say 'Why bother?'" So half of 5-10 is still 2.5 – 5 lbs. of additional weight that you don't need to gain. Let's take staying healthy during the holidays one step further though. Let's assume you want to aim a little higher. Let's assume you want to cut that number in half AGAIN because you're not okay with complacency or mediocrity. Some of you may set your fitness goal for the holidays to purposely maintain your weight by not going for seconds, avoiding dessert, and getting in your normal workouts and cardio sessions. If this is the case, that's reasonable. That's rational. I can live with that.

But what if we aim higher again? What if you want to beat average? A quote I tend to repeat to myself a lot is, "You've got to be unreasonable to get unreasonable results." Without further ado, my challenge to you, for not only staying healthy during the holidays but exceeding your goals, is: GO GET UNREASONABLE RESULTS!

I want you to come back from your holidays LEANER than before they started! Commit to be in better shape once the holidays are over. You can enjoy the holidays, family, friends, and get in better shape at the same time! It seems as though some people already anticipate the holiday weight gain and account for it by making the CLASSIC New Year's resolution to lose weight/get fit. But not you: your New Year's resolution is going to start well before December 31. You're going to commit to losing weight/gaining muscle/staying on plan, and becoming stronger, faster, leaner, and BETTER by the time the New Year rolls around. So go beat average! Aim higher for staying healthy during the holidays, use your 6 Pack meal management bag to help you stay as organized as possible, and accept my challenge to be a better you before 2015 even arrives!