The holiday season is nigh, and for many people that causes more heartburn than joy. Visions of sugarplum fairies are displaced by family squabbles, scheduling and spending pressures, and too little peaceful time for self. There is a better way.
Navigating the holiday season with your health and sanity intact is possible if you follow a few counter-intuitive and counter-cultural ideas. The single most important thing to do is to breathe and resolve to give yourself space…the space to be you and the space to do good things for yourself as you try to live up to everyone else’s expectations.
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Enjoy the moment. The holiday season is probably not the best time to set ambitious or complex health goals. Be gentle in your own expectations, which is not the same thing as being complacent. Goals are good, but reasonable and doable actions set the stage for future success.
Instead of aiming to lose 10 pounds before year end (ambitious even for the most disciplined people), think instead about trying to take a vigorous walk every day or nearly every day. The more frequently you achieve the action, the more likely you are to reach the goal; and, if you don’t reach the goal, you still will be well on the road to creating a strong sense of personal discipline, which arises more readily from doing than from ruminating.
How to do it St. Louis–style: There’s no reason your walking cannot be fun and in the holiday spirit: the St. Louis Zoo and the Botanical Gardens are just two of the many options available for evening walks immersed in Christmas light displays. If you want some company, the Meetup St. Louis Urban Walkers gathers regularly.
Plan ahead…just slightly. Be realistic with how far ahead you can plan for exercise and nutrition goals during the time of year when all the best intentions can collide roughly with external factors you can’t control, including encroaching bad weather. Think of your time in small chunks, a few days to a week. During the most hectic periods, have the most modest goals; getting in a few short walks or 20 minutes of calisthenics and bodyweight mobility drills at home will do more for your spirit than the hour-long gym visits that you don’t make.
The same goes for eating. We are all going to overeat during the holidays. You can manage that, too. Got three parties to go to in one evening? Eat only appetizers at the first; your main course at the middle one; and, dessert at the last. If at all possible, save your alcohol consumption for the last stop on your holiday tour.
How to do it St. Louis–style: If you just can’t pass on those seasonal nibbles, try a two-for-one: Cherokee Street Cookie Spree, Belleville Gingerbread Run/Walk, and Skate with Santa combine walking, running, or gliding with holiday fun. All three events take place on December 3.
Breathe. Think about starting every day with a few minutes of quiet time somewhere in your home with some intentional deep breathing. Your breath controls a great deal of your stress response. There is a reason that everyone from yogis to martial artists to top-flight warriors practice deep breathing. They cannot all be wrong.
How to do it St. Louis–style: Learn peace, quiet, and breathing yourself at some of these local meditation classes.
Be intentional. When you eat, eat with full intention, which does not mean you intend to eat everything you see. It means you eat with a sense of purpose, eating well but also enjoying both your food and your company. Exercise with intention also. Enjoy the movement. Take off the headphones and turn off the TV. Feel your heartbeat; listen to your own breathing. Immersing yourself in movement is surprisingly uplifting because it connects you to what your body is designed to do: move. All movement is good; don’t get caught in anyone’s game of do-this-don’t-do-that. Do what feels good to you and makes you happy.
How to do it St. Louis–style: You can do this anywhere, anytime; practice it at your desk or on the plane, at the table with your family or taking the stairs to your office.
Set the stage for the New Year. The New Year will bring its inevitable surge of resolutions and good intentions, which are often lost in the clutter of work and school by the end of January. Take your time building your discipline in the New Year. The only discipline that matters is the one you can sustain, and you will only learn that through trial and error. Take advantage of trial memberships to local gyms and fitness studios before you commit to paying for one for the year. You have to like the environment, the people, and the offerings.
How to do it St. Louis–style: Companies like Snap Fitness, with a half dozen locations locally, offer 30-day free trials; competitor gyms will no doubt have their own trial offers in the New Year. Kick the tires on a gym membership for a few weeks before you commit.
Don’t let the holiday season feel like an anchor. Rather, thinking and planning ahead, with the intention to be intentional in your movement and eating strategies, are the best things you can do to use the holidays as a launch pad for 2017.
Vik Khanna, a healthcare entrepreneur, writer, and exercise coach, is the strength and conditioning coach at the Missouri Karate Association in Chesterfield, MO. He has an undergraduate degree in exercise science and physical education, is a physician assistant with experience in internal medicine and rehabilitation, and he holds a Master’s degree from The Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. He has introduced kettlebell training to the dojo and teaches a drop-in kettlebell class on Wednesday evenings from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.
