8 Tricks To Create A Healthy Active Lifestyle During The Holiday Seasons — Christopher Ray Coleman
Who loves anything Pumpkin Spice? Chris loves anything Pumpkin Spice(my 90’s babies will get that)! But it’s 2018 and there are more flavors and options of treats during the Christmas season more than ever!
Whether it’s lattes, Debbie cakes, cupcakes, cake cakes lol you name it! The temptations are everywhere and it can get very difficult this time of year to build a healthy active lifestyle.
The flip side of it is if you can build the habits and discipline at this time of the year; looking amazing for summer 2019 is practically guaranteed. It’s often said that summer bodies are made in the fall/winter.
So I’ve put together a list of 8 tricks you can use during the holidays to help the situation…as much as you can of course. Believe me; I’m not saying no to pumpkin spice pound cake!!!
1. Portion Control
You don’t have to be that person at the family gatherings or office parties holding a carrot and celery cross up to the dessert table. Attempting to be 100% healthy is in fact unhealthy! It takes a toll on your mental health and it usually leads to people relapsing and eating three boxes of donuts in one sitting(so I’ve heard lol). Instead of going to the extreme, eat one piece of cake instead of two. Grab a small plate instead of filling a large plate with food.
2. Increase Your Water Intake
Our body is 70% water…or 75%…or 80%…one of those. Look water is very important to our bodies ok haha. But seriously water activates every organ in our body. Think of our lungs, liver, and heart as sponges. Water wakes them up and allows them to do their purposes at an adequate level. Water also curves hunger and appetite. Many times we mistake being thirsty and partially dehydrated for just being hungry. So increase your water intake even if it’s just a glass when you wake up and a glass before you go to sleep. And if you don’t like the taste of water so what! Stop using that as an excuse. It’s not crack. It’s water. Drink it!
3. No Screen Time While Eating
This may sound funny initially but think about it. When was the last time you ate a meal without watching tv or looking at your phone, or a laptop? I bet you can’t even remember. Food is actually data and information our body needs to operate. Similar to how you code a computer(which I know absolutely nothing about) is how food relates to determining how we look and feel. Eating should be a conscious activity yet while we have a screen in front of us we usually go on autopilot and eat like a robot. Many times leading to overeating. So put the phone away. Look out the window or people watch or something.
4. Go To The Store To Shop
Yes! Shopping in a store is still a real thing. Despite Amazon becoming the online shopping titan that it has(btw click here to buy my book on Amazon lol #NoShamePlug); stores still exist. We’ve become very stationary/sedentary in today’s world. We sit in one place to work, we sit in one place to often communicate with others, and we sit in one place to shop. When we walk we active our core muscles to keep up balanced and prevent us from toppling over. But we also but efficient calories in the full body movement of simply walking. I know…mindblowing!
5. Eat Before Going To Grandma’s House
I would like to start this tip by making this disclaimer. If anyone is slapped, stabbed, or shot from refusing their grandma’s food; I am deleting this tip. There will only be 7 on the list. Now that I think about it I’m just going to delete the whole damn article! I know this is playing with fire but if you want to create a healthy active lifestyle it’s a must. If your grandma is anything like mine she doesn’t know what a measuring tool is. She uses her taste buds to see if she's using enough seasoning for food. I don’t even think her taste buds work anymore so she just guestimates everything. This is by far from healthy and can lead to consuming ridiculous amounts of sodium, cholesterol, and sugar. Trust me I know if you don’t eat grandma’s food she sees it as you hate her. But think of something! Bring her a card, buy her a new TV, tell her she was a new grandchild on the way. Be creative. And BE CAREFUL!!!
6. Engage In The Sport You’re Watching
If you’re watching a football game or the Superbowl(WHO DAT NATION); go outside and throw the pigskin around. Watching the NBA finals; go out back and shoot a couple hoops. It gets cold this time of year to find ways to get up, get out, and move around.
7. Park Further Away From The Store
This is similar to tip #4 so I won’t go into too much detail. And to be honest I have other things to do sooo we’re about to wrap this up! But usually, when we park at a store we spend 10–20 minutes riding around the parking lot looking and even waiting for a parking spot close to the entrance. Now if you injured or just old and you need to park close I get that go right ahead. But if not park further away than you usually would and make the walk.
8. Keep It Stupid Simple
The worst thing you could do this holiday seasons is starting a trendy diet that’s so difficult and complex you end up not sticking to it. Or messing up your body energy consuming source with Keto. Yep, that’s right I said it! It’s the holidays. It’s the most wonderful time of the year. And you should enjoy the process of creating a healthy active lifestyle just like you enjoy the holidays. It’s not about doing things in an extreme way. It’s about keeping things extremely simple and setting yourself up for success in the long run!
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Email me and let me know what your favorite tip was. Or corny line :)
And as always you’re one decision away from turning over a new leaf or taking things to the next level in life!
Your #HealthIsWealthGuy
@ChristopherRayColeman
