Geschatte leestijd: 3 minutenIt’s December, so as a fitness blogger, I feel obligated to say something sensible about the holidays. However, I’m not inclined to spoil the Christmas spirit by making you feel guilty in advance about every Christmas cookie.
“Surviving the Holidays”
For example, by writing under the theme ‘Surviving the Holidays’. You know them; the tips on resisting all the temptations that the holidays offer. They’re the light-hearted articles in a magazine you read while sitting in the dentist’s waiting room. About the nutritional value of turkey and the calories in alcohol. Tips on rationing the chocolate letters you received.
As a fitness blog, we can go further than, for example, a Linda. After all, we have many hardcore gym rats as readers. Advice on the Christmas meal prep, so you can join your in-laws’ Christmas dinner with your Tupperware. How to smuggle protein into the Christmas drinks and check your contingency plan for a closed gym.
Worrying about the consequences of the holidays on your figure apparently goes hand in hand with Christmas like Wham and Bing Crosby.
Fitness Holidays
Also popular is, of course, offering a healthy alternative to festive temptations.
For home cooks, we offer recipes where flour is replaced by whole wheat flour, butter by coconut oil, and sugar by chia seeds.
Just the day before yesterday, we shared an example of this, after all, it was Saint Nicholas’ Eve. “Healthy-ginger-nuts-with-peanut-butter-mandarin-cocoa”.
For Christmas, we will undoubtedly share some more of these healthy alternatives. Protein eggnog, creatine candy canes, low-carb Christmas wreaths, apple turnovers baked in MCT oil, and donuts with acai berries instead of currants.
I must admit that I’m never eager to try them out myself. For some reason, when I see such recipes, I always envision TV comedies. Family members sighing as they try out the latest experiment, children feeding the dog under the table to get rid of the responsible snack. Just like that one vegetarian family member who makes an effort every year to introduce interesting meat substitutes at the birthday party, resulting in the tradition of stopping at McDonald’s on the way home.
Are you making these healthy snacks for yourself or are you spending the whole day in the kitchen to enjoy with others and have a pleasant evening? If it’s the latter, keep in mind that not everyone counts their macros.
Don’t be that guy
Even if you’re not in the kitchen yourself, but are allowed to join others, it’s handy to keep in mind that not everyone shares your obsession with a great physique.
Nobody enjoys your annual game of “guess-how-many-calories-are-on-your-plate.” You don’t make anyone happy with stories about the influence of a Christmas loaf on the risk of cardiovascular diseases. Nor do you impress by accurately estimating the macros in dessert.
Guilt-Free Christmas
Those standard articles with tips on surviving Christmas, I assume, are aimed at people who struggle to adhere to a certain diet throughout the year. If you’ve struggled to eat at or below your needs for a year, then it’s indeed not desirable to ruin months of work in a few weeks. In those cases, it may be wise to at least remind yourself that the holidays are not an excuse to indulge for a month.
However, there is a growing group of readers for whom sometimes the opposite applies. The die-hard fitness freaks who are consciously concerned with their diet throughout the year. As a fitness photographer, for example, I had a very busy month due to the fitness and bodybuilding competitions that took place this month. For many in this group, a few weeks of relaxation and extra calories are actually very constructive and desirable for recovery. The holidays are then a wonderful bulking period.
Whatever your personal situation may be, remember what Hollywood has taught us. Christmas is about a cozy gathering with friends and family. Feeling guilty about every bite you take adds nothing to that. You have the rest of the year for that.
