Here are Tips for festive season fitness for holidays like Christmas and season of Diwali

Festivals like Christmas and  Diwali open the door to a sweet and calorie filled binge.

All the while there is one question.

Is there a way I can keep my festive season fitness levels up?

It’s challenging enough for most of us to stick to our fitness schedules on a day to day basis.

The last thing we need is the distraction of festivities and everything that comes along with it.

• Parties
• Indulgences such as the beer and the bubbly
• food overload
• Dessert and sweets

Partying brings with it:

• late nights
• lack of sleep
• bloating
• irregular eating cycle

Festival Season Money Saving Tips

Any form of fit eating takes the back seat while we add-on kilos that threaten to creep in and derail our regimen completely.

We all know the downside. Yet we let it play havoc with our health during festivals like Diwali and Christmas. We think it is going to last only a day. We skip the workout thinking that once it’s over, we can hit the gym with a vengeance.

That is all very well!

But do you really want to feel bloated, fat and guilty?

Let us not overlook the fact that losing the added kilos is added stress and added work at the end of the day. Then we look ourselves in the mirror and return to the eternal question of how am I going to manage my festive season fitness.

The ideal way to go through this period of festivities is to keep a workout routine even if it is not your regular one.

Also, take care to eat smart through the days and nights of partying. Whatever you do, do not let go entirely. Do not give up on your fitness at any point in time.

So here is what you can do for your workout and diet.

Exercise routines for festive season fitness

Keep the walks

Thirty minutes dedicated to walking if nothing else works is a basic requirement.

If you are hungover, low energy, or plain lazy, a brisk walk will wake you up. It will put you in the mood to take on work, the entire day and keep you going through another party later in the evening.

Walking will:

improve your circulation,

calm your stress hormones,

compose your digestion and

bring a spring in your step

burns calories and keeping them from settling in as fat.

Besides, the natural flush and facial that a cardio activity provides would be an added advantage considering you are taking pains to look good in the festive season.

Walking is one extremely easy way to stay fit during holidays and festivals.

Jump the rope

If you are not in a position to leave home and go for a walk and you have the skill, skip at home. Sets of 50 to 100 will burn calories and make you sweat out the toxins that you are gathering during this unhealthy living phase of holidays and festivals. If you cannot skip a rope to save your life, go with jogging and jumping alternately on the spot for 10 minutes.

Home Cardio Circuit

Alternatively, here is a 7-minute circuit which you can do once, twice or thrice depending on your joints health, stamina, energy levels and drive to burn more. You may take half a minute’s rest after every circuit.

Jogging – 1 minute

Soft jumps – 1 minute

High knees – 1 minute

Butt kicks – 1 minute

Jumping jacks – 1 minute

Pendulum jumps – 1 minute

Crisscross jumps – 1 minute

Bodyweight workout and breathing

Follow up your cardio with bodyweight exercises while focussing on correct breathing :

inhale through the nose in the relaxed or original position and

exhale through the mouth in working or stressing mode.

Two sets each of push-ups, crunches, bicycle crunches, leg raises plank hold, and side plank hold. As a result, your gut would stay rock solid.

You may include some or all of the exercises depending on the time you have.

Eating habits for festive season fitness

Party food tips

While you are indulging your senses and palate, just be mindful of the number of drinks and quantity of food and snacks you are consuming. Do not add aerated drinks and packaged fruit juices to your drinks. Go for grilled and barbequed snacks. Stay away from anything fried, keep carbs and sweets intake to the minimal.

And learn to say ‘No’ when you know you are done!

Focus on fibre

Make sure that your intake of fruits and vegetable stays high. At no point sacrifice them to compensate for the high intake of party food and drinks.

These make sure that your system is flushed properly on a regular basis, and you keep getting your nutrients too.

Ditch the teas and coffees

Well, you can keep your morning cuppa to wake up if you like. However, ditch any more than that for at least this period in favour of green tea, fresh lime water, and coconut water.

Beware of Dehydration

The alcohol, accompanied with all the snacking and high-calorie food puts your digestion under stress and also tends to dehydrate you. Tea and coffee further dehydrate the body and compounds the issue.

Your system often misreads this water deficit as hunger. And so you tend to eat more after a ‘high-spirited’ late night party.

Keep your head above the water. Sustain the basic workout and diet. 

Rest assured when normalcy returns to your exercise routine post-festive season, you would have retained your stamina and your girth. Neither would you cringe while scaling the weighing machine nor would it creak back in protest.

Now that we have answered:

How to stay fit during holidays and festivals?

Its time to enjoy Festive times is happy times. Let’s celebrate, and we pray for happiness, health, and prosperity. Let’s mean it for ourselves.

Happy Diwali!

My friend Shaili Saini has also got a few great Yoga Asanas to keep your festive  season fitness levels up check them out in this awesome video below: