The tin of Roses on the coffee table. The smell of freshly baked minced pies out of the oven. The bottles of Baileys and Prosecco lining the fridge door.
While Christmas might well be the most magical time of the year, it's also often the most glutinous, booze-filled and, let's face it, exhausting period in the winter calendar.
Whether you're heading home to your families for the festive season, booking a skiing holiday with your partner, or planning to hit the town with friends to ring in the New Year, December is full of temptations that can easily make the most avid gym bunny and devoted health-conscious eater tumble off the wagon.
But it doesn't need to be that way.
You can still party until the wee hours of the morning, knock back a shot of limoncello and tuck into a bowl of Christmas pudding and maintain a healthy fitness regime and eating plan.
Don't believe us?
We spoke to nine wellness experts to get their top tips to staying fit and healthy over Christmas:
1) Stuart Sandeman, founder of Breathpod
'Winter means dark nights, which sap our energy and our enthusiasm to work out. And when it’s cold outside, we often reach for heartier, carb-filled, more sugary foods, which give us a quick positive boost - but tend to make us feel a bit rough afterwards,' says Sandeman.
- First, breathe! Breathwork is such a powerful, accessible, empowering way to change your mental state and shift that negative emotion. Something like the ‘if in doubt, breathe it out’ technique is a perfect stress buster - breathe in through your nose for four, hold your breath for four, and breathe out your mouth for eight.
- Gratitude is an incredibly effective antidote for stress and anxiety, and so it’s easy to do. List 3 things you are grateful for and don't just roll them off your tongue, see if you can feel that sense of gratitude too, as it will help reduce stress and negative emotions.
2) Dr Megan Rossi, registered dietitian and author of Eat More, Live Well
- Have something on your plate for your gut microbes: Get in the habit of ordering a side of vegetables or wholegrains with your roast, or opt for fruit as your pudding (fruit in your mulled wine doesn’t count, best to keep that in the glass!)
- Hit snooze: Lack of sleep can leave your hormones in a mess, which can trigger flare ups of gut symptoms. Getting your seven to nine hours of shut-eye every night gives your gut time to rest and repair.
- Avoid skipping meals, that’s because when we skip meals, we’re more likely to overdo it at the next meal.
3) Connor Clacher, KOBOX trainer
'By making healthy food choices, you can give yourself both the comfort you’re craving and the daily nourishment your body needs to function at its best,' notes Clacher.
- Sometimes cravings can be your body’s way of signalling that it needs something. Here are some examples:
Salty foods - This may be a sign that you’re dehydrated, which can throw electrolytes out of balance. Electrolytes are chemicals in your blood, urine and sweat that help hydrate the body and regulate muscle and nerve function
Sugary, sweet foods - This suggests your blood sugar levels are low. Eat foods with a low Glycemic Index - Think of exercise as 'me time'. It's a moment to yourself to get some headspace while looking after your body, and it might just make you more motivated to do it.
4) Lucie Cowan, Master Trainer at Third Space
'Changes to our normal routine can often lead to the black or white mentality, and I see clients start of fall of the fitness bandwagon and think "sod it, I’ve missed two sessions, I may as well give up for December and start again in January". The key is to adapt,' says Cowan.
- Sit with your diary and be realistic. If you can only squeeze in a 15-20-minute window for exercise during this busy time, pencil it in, and do it. Go into the gym with a solid game plan of exactly what you’re going to do in that 20 minutes and get straight to it, to be most productive in the time you do have. Diarise it, stay accountable.
- A playlist can be the sole thing that motivates me through the session. Have some 20, 30 and 45 minute playlists of upbeat tracks you love, ready and waiting for the day you almost didn’t make the workout.
- Try to remember the bigger picture. If you’re consistent in your eating patterns and exercise regime throughout the year, a few weeks of change will not undo all of that. You can afford to let loose for a few weeks and you will not lose all your progress suddenly.
- Pick some movement you know you really enjoy, rather than punishing forms of exercise you dread until it’s over. Exercise doesn’t have to be the typical cardio or weights, it can be dance, a muddy kick around in the garden with your kids, a brisk dog walk. If its truly enjoyable for you, you wont find it hard to motivate yourself to do it.
5) Celest Pereira, Wanderlust ambassador and yoga teacher
'There's a strong undercurrent of "but it's Christmas" mentality that is rife amongst us all. And while we do need to let our hair down and have fun during this time of year, we also need to look after our bodies. And no, Christmas is not an excuse to abuse it,' says Pereira.
- If your goal is to stay fit and healthy through the festive season then small changes go a long way. Never go back for seconds, no matter how tasty the buffet is. Eat slowly and enjoy every mouthful. It's easier not to over eat when you're mindful. If you are able to choose your food, don't deny yourself anything but allow the proportions of healthy food to be bigger than the unhealthy options.
- Drink lots of water on a night out. Don't be afraid when your friends are offering to buy you drinks to ask for a sparkling water with some lemon. I always fall back on the 'tomorrow is a big day and I need to be on form' excuse.
- Set aside at least 15 minutes of training everyday - walking, yoga, HIIT, anything! Even a few minutes will get your metabolism pumping. On the days where you really don't have time, make sure to schedule in a short five minute meditation to focus on your body and slow down your breathing.
- Find a buddy who will support you, even when it's cold and windy out there, and schedule your workouts into your diary so the time is already set aside.
- Challenge friends and family to 'plank-offs' and set a Christmas goal for yourself, such as 'by the end of Christmas I'll hold a four-minute plank'.
6) Andy Vincent, Third Space elite trainer
'I've lost count of the amount of times I've heard people say they are taking December off the diet because they know they can't stick to their usual habits,' explains Vincent.
- Adapt your training schedule. If you usually have a four-day routine and feel this is unrealistic over Christmas, switch to something like 1 x full body weights session and 1 x treadmill hill sprints session. Think about what you feels gives you the biggest bang for your buck when it comes to training.
- Breakfast and lunch hopefully shouldn't be interrupted with social activities, but make sure you're stocked up in the fridge and plan your meals in advance as much as possible.
- Plan to see friends for finessed related catch ups. Rather than suggesting a girls' brunch, how about a seeing if your friends fancy doing a yoga class or a jog?
- If you struggle for ideas for none equipment / bodyweight training systems, use Freeletics or the Nike app for ideas. The most important things is doing something to make you feel like earned the right to eat a few more calories.
- Schedule the occasional HIIT training session for 8-12 minutes or use a Tabata timing protocol of 20 seconds continuous work followed by 20 seconds res. The cumulative fatigue from short rest periods will keep this session hard and the duration low.
7) Caroline Bragg, Frame instructor
Bragg says: 'Along with the jam packed schedule, the weather has a huge part to play in people not wanting to exercise at Christmas. Your weekly outdoor bootcamp is easy to skip in the rain compared to the hazy summer evenings of July.'
- If you're unable to make it to your favourite gym class or don't have time to go to the gym, do a high-intensity workout in your living room. Purchase a pair of gliders and resistance bands ahead of Christmas - or pop them on your wish list - as they help you sweat and burn calories in a short space of time and take up no space whatsoever. Gliders work the muscles eccentrically and concentrically while bands add resistance to moves and provide a full-body workout.
- Download interval training timer Tabata Pro onto your phone for at-home or gym training.
- Try to work out for at least 30 mins 4-5 times a week and get out of the house as much as possible.
8) Matt Fish, Head of Reshape at 1Rebel
Christmas is always a difficult time to stay fit so you need to keep up your momentum and energy by setting yourself goals.
- Sign up to an event or a sports club ahead of the Christmas break, whether it's a fun run with friends and family or a free class at a local gym that's opened up.
- Be selective when it comes to accepting social invites. Every 'yes' to an invite increases your consumption of unhealthy food and alcohol. Prioritise some 'me' time, instead.
- Plan your workouts around peak times when you know you'll be out boozing and eating. For example, if you have a Christmas party coming up, put a workout in your diary the morning of or the day after the party. Knowing you have a workout planned will help you stay focussed and be guilt-free. It's also a great way of curing a hangover!
- I love this time of year as it does bring out the sun, but the temperature can be a sore point. If heading out in the cold has you hiding your trainers, why not perform simple body weight and core exercises to help you stay active indoors? Put on a 40-minute Netflix episode or that podcast you've been dying to listen to and use the time to do a gentle workout in the comfort of your own home.
9) Alice Liveing, personal trainer and best-selling author
'Understandably, during the festive period, people's diaries fill up with social events far more than normal, and the temptation of warm mince pies in the office and a glass of bubbly after work are far more appealing than a carrot stick and a diet coke,' says Liveing.
'For that reason I think that it's only normal that people may struggle to stick to their fitness regime around this time of the year.'
- Make a plan to continue to exercise three times a week, for example with two weight sessions and one conditioning session, which give a realistic goal to aim for and allow you to keep your fitness levels at a consistent point so that you don't feel a huge struggle getting back to it after the fitness period.
- If you are wanting to invest in some equipment to workout at home, a set of dumbbells and a resistance band are a great place to start. These free weights are incredibly versatile and allow you to add load to a large variety of exercises, whilst a resistance band is great for also increasing the difficulty of bodyweight exercises.
- Think outside the box and see how you can get your family involved in your activity; think walks, ball games or even a home HIIT workout with the whole family.
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Katie O'Malley is the Site Director on ELLE UK. On a daily basis you’ll find Katie managing all digital workflow, editing site, video and newsletter content, liaising with commercial and sales teams on new partnerships and deals (eg Nike, Tiffany & Co., Cartier etc), implementing new digital strategies and compiling in-depth data traffic, SEO and ecomm reports. In addition to appearing on the radio and on TV, as well as interviewing everyone from Oprah Winfrey to Rishi Sunak PM, Katie enjoys writing about lifestyle, culture, wellness, fitness, fashion, and more.
