Handling the Holidays with Lifestyle Activity

The holiday season is in full swing! We’ve already talked about avoiding holiday indulgence and focusing on enjoyment instead, and we’ve discussed how to be prepared for the holidays if you have someone with narcissistic traits in your life. This week, we’ll be exploring one simple way you can boost your immune system, improve the quality of your sleep, help you feel more relaxed and less anxious and depressed, encourage digestion, and help you maintain your weight as we make our way through the holiday season!

Are you wondering what could possibly be so good for you? Maybe you’ve already guessed the answer is…physical activity. Before you roll your eyes and stop reading, hear me out. First, physical activity really is that good for you! Second, I’m not suggesting you start a gym membership (unless you want to) or start training to run a marathon (unless you want to). Instead, what I’m suggesting is a holiday version of our discussion of lifestyle activity earlier this year.

While the holidays can be a wonderful time of the year, exercise is especially challenging during the holidays.  Demands on your time, energy, and financial resources are everywhere. It’s cold and flu season, which can slow down or stop your workouts. When it’s cold, wet, and dark outside, outdoor activity is far less tempting.

So, what can you do to stay active through the holiday season? As we’ve explored before, there are three types of activity: cardiorespiratory exercise, strength training, and lifestyle activity. Cardiorespiratory exercise works your heart and lungs, and burns fat for energy. Strength training works your muscles and strengthens them, which supports balance, mobility, and your ability to be active, and it increases the number of calories you need daily. Lifestyle activity is moving your body through space throughout the day, aside from cardiorespiratory exercise or strength training.

Lifestyle activity just doesn’t get as much attention as the other two, and that’s unfortunate. Our bodies are designed for movement. There’s plenty of research that indicates that sitting is harmful to your health. In fact, even if you’re engaging in cardiorespiratory exercise and strength training regularly, you still need lots of movement throughout the day to maintain good health.

Happily, lifestyle activity contributes powerfully to your body’s need for movement. There’s ample research that shows small bursts of activity—as short as 10 minutes—done several times throughout the day add up to equal the benefits of cardiorespiratory exercise or strength training. And even if you’re not getting in 10 minutes of movement at a time, or it’s not intense movement, any kind of movement means you’re not being sedentary!

The best part about lifestyle activity is that it’s far easier to squeeze it into a busy lifestyle, even throughout the holiday season. And once we’re in the new year, your goals may be focused on starting up or increasing cardio and strength, but you’ll still benefit from being in the habit of engaging in lifestyle activity!

So, here are some tips to help you stay active through the holiday season and reap all the benefits of lifestyle activity:

Notice Your Self-Talk

The holidays can be a challenging time for positive self-talk, particularly with regard to physical activity. This is especially true if you’re not already skilled at noticing and responding positively to your thoughts when they’re untrue or unhelpful. If you tend to find excuses to dodge physical activity whenever possible, here are a few suggestions for ways to encourage and inspire yourself to squeeze in some lifestyle activity:

• The world is my gym!

• I am a person who moves their body through space every day

• I value my health and happiness

• I take care of myself so I can be there for others

• I treat my body with care and respect

Take Breaks During Periods of Inactivity

Research continues to show that what’s most important is movement, regardless of what kind or how long you engage in the activity. If your schedule doesn’t allow for a half-hour workout, try taking 3 10-minute breaks throughout the day. Can’t think of what to do? Whether you're at work, at home watching TV, or traveling, here are some ideas:

• Go for a brisk 10-minute walk

• Do a few of your favorite yoga poses

• Do isometric exercises at the airport, on the plane, or in your office seat

• Do some stair laps

• Dance to a song

• Do calisthenics or lift weights for a few minutes

  
  

Be Creative

If you see the world as your gym, you’ll find opportunities for lifestyle activity throughout your day. Here are some ideas to get you started, but be curious and creative, and come up with your own!

• Play basketball, throw around the football or baseball, go for a walk, or have a dance competition with family, friends, or neighbors

• Notice your body as you're cooking, cleaning, shoveling snow, doing yard work, or gardening, and use these as opportunities for isometric exercise

• Dance, do stair laps, walk around the couch, do calisthenics, or lift weights during commercials

• Go for a walk after a meal before dessert

• Walk to a co-worker’s desk instead of emailing or calling

• Take the stairs instead of the escalator or elevator

• Walk or bike whenever possible instead of driving or taking public transport

• Get off the bus or train a stop or two early and walk the remaining distance

• Park further away and walk briskly through the parking lot

• Bring things upstairs one item at a time, so you get in a few extra stair laps

• Walk around your neighborhood to check the mail, instead of going straight to the mailbox

The holidays can be an especially challenging time in every regard—physically, emotionally, and mentally. If you’re struggling through the holiday season, I encourage you to seek out a therapist who can help you handle the holidays. You deserve to thrive!

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