This holiday season I was invited on set with Trending Media Australia for their ‘Christmas Extravaganza’ (video below).
Aaron and I discussed the topic ‘How to burn off your Christmas calories’.
Here’s my thoughts:
My advice is – it’s Christmas! Enjoy it! You should be enjoying food and socialising with your loved ones. I encourage a healthy relationship with exercise & food. I never want my clients to have the mindset that they ‘burn off’ the food they eat. Food should be enjoyed without remorse or guilt!
So here’s my top tips to help you stay on track and not ‘overdo’ it during the festive season.
1. Prioritise protein!
Protein helps keep you fuller for longer – so you are less likely to then snack as much. Protein has the highest TEF (Thermic Effect of Food) of all the macronutrients so it actually requires your body to burn more calories during digestion! Choose eggs, lean chicken & turkey, ham and of course seafood with plenty of leafy greens in your veggies and salads.
2. Choose sugar free for your soft drink and premix-alcohol!
If you are having soft drink or mixers with your alcohol there’s lots of sugar free options available. This also goes for your premix alcoholic beverages. Choose the sugar free versions or lower sugar seltzer’s and low carb beers. Leaving calories for other yummy things like apple pie and custard!
3. Keep active!
Routine is hard on holidays with travel and visitors, so if you can’t get to your usual gym session enjoy some other movement! Fun activities such as: walking, swimming in the pool or at the beach, playing that game of backyard cricket or beach volleyball or even a body weight workout at home.
At the end of my segment is an awesome workout you can do anywhere, even in the AM right after you get out of bed! (Watch the video below for detailed instruction).
For the workout:
Warm up with 20 star jumps. Let’s get the whole body moving and ready for exercise!
Depending on your fitness and experience you can either just do a couple of rounds of each of these exercises or you could set a timer and see how many rounds you can complete in that time. Always remember that correct technique should come first not just rushing through to complete as many as possible!
- Triple pulse squat x 10
- Bear crawl 3×3 x 10
- Triple pulse glute bridge x 10
- 4 shoulder taps to 1 push up x 10
Wishing you all a happy and healthy Christmas!
If you would like any help with your fitness and/or nutrition goals, check out my online fitness coaching programs.
