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This week's tip:
Holiday Survival Guide
5 tips for staying in shape during the holiday season
By Shannon Valerio
Stealth holiday workout: stroll the neighborhood and check out the Christmas lights.
photo: Robert Burnson
Despite all your best intentions, you’ve done it again. You’ve overindulged. You ate too much because it was so good … you drank too much because it was so fun … and now you’ve got a post holiday food hangover.
You feel like sludge. And you look like it, too.
But don’t be so hard on yourself. Everyone overdoes it sometimes.
Here are some tips for getting back on track and surviving the holidays:
1) Don’t stress.
You are allowed to indulge a few times a year. In fact, some people stay slim despite diets with weekly binge days. This is the holiday season. Feasting is going to happen. If you are feeling guilty about overindulging, channel that guilt into a plan for eating better and getting more exercise next year.
2) Fix healthy leftovers.
Holiday feasts tend tend to be high in salt (not to mention, alcohol). As a result, they can leave you dehydrated. So drink lots of water on the day after. And don’t starve yourself. Instead, use your holiday leftovers to create healthy post-holiday meals.
Throw your leftover turkey in a crockpot with beans, tomatoes and chili powder to a make a tasty meal.
Use the leftover mashed potatoes to make yummy potato pancakes.
Another great post-holiday breakfast is eggs and stuffing. Just fry them together in a tablespoon of olive oil.
3) Go fitness shopping.
Holiday shopping is more than buying stuff. It’s pretty much a blood sport. Speed walk the malls shopping the sales and hunting for the bargains. You’ll walk miles and burn as many calories as a visit to the gym. Just skip the Cinnabons.
4) Stealth workouts.
With so much to do, it’s easy to miss a few workouts over the holidays. But that’s OK. In fact, a reduced workout schedule can provide you with a nice break.
Of course, you’ll always feel better when you’re in shape. So sneak in a workout whenever you can. If you don’t have time for your usual two-hour skate, do some quick intervals. If you don’t have time to put on your skates, be creative: jump rope in the back yard or climb some stairs. Go for walks, long or short. Go mushroom hunting in the woods or stroll through your neighborhood and take in the Christmas lights.
5) Give yourself a break.
You deserve it. You survived another year.
Happy holidays!
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Shannon Valerio has been a competitive athlete since she was 8 years old and has competed on both quads and inlines and in short track speed skating, ice hockey and road cycling. An accomplished Master’s inline speed skater, she has 14 national titles in indoors, banked track and road and holds two national records. She has also placed in several marathons and is now both skating and cycling with the Riivo/Salt Creek Consultants Team. She is a certified strength and conditioning coach and personal trainer for Valerio Training, a company she founded in 2009.
