CHEERS TO THE HOLIDAYS

Holidays are SO fun. I absolutely love all of the delicious foods and tasty drinks that go along with all of the gatherings of family and loved ones. There truly is no greater time of the year. I may have just decorated my house for Christmas before writing this. My fellow Americans, please give me grace, in Canada, Christmas is the next holiday following Halloween, and no tree up for us yet, we wait to cut down our tree until after thanksgiving, so I did hold off with the biggest Christmas decoration! It just doesn’t get any better then family gatherings at Christmas time, all of your favourite people gathered into one place, granted I love my families, so that makes a difference for me enjoying all of the gatherings, lol.

With these gatherings always comes Grandma’s almond banket and delicious white chocolate covered pretzels paired with wine. You can easily overeat, I’m not going to say I never have, but I eat tons of small meals through out my day, which makes it harder to overeat in one single meal. However, I definitely have had seventy-five percent of my dinner plate filled with dessert and a side of mashed potatoes. No shame, but I definitely never feel awesome after that, but balance, that is why I don’t do it all that often.

We know the Holidays are going to be filled with party after party filled with treats and champagne. There are three ways to approach the holidays, and I definitely recommend only one out of these three options, because ENJOY life and the precious time you have with your loved ones.

First approach, be miserable to yourself and everyone around you and restrict yourself from every yummy thing that you want to shove in your face. You won’t enjoy yourself because you will be watching everyone else devour these treats and guzzle champagne in front of you, and lets be honest, no one wants to be watching and not participating in that.

Second approach, ah, to hell with it, I’m going to eat everything possible in sight. Holidays are the holidays, everyone gains 6 pounds on average in December alone. I’ll start with my healthy living when the New Year rolls around. It’ll be so much easier to start then instead of having to workout, and make a few mindful choices at these holiday gatherings. It’s way easier to just slash all of your tires if one is flat, am I right? (Hello, no!)

Third approach is balance, it is pretty simple, and totally doable. You enjoy your favourite goodies and bubbly, alongside some healthy foods for the evening. You’ll feel great because your gut isn’t filled with only sugars, but you won’t be miserable watching other people enjoy your favourite goodies. Clearly, this is the approach I take, as well as would recommend to everyone else.

Don’t be miserable to everyone around you and don’t be miserable to yourself. If you have a cookie, or two or three, it isn’t going to derail you. You won’t feel miserable, you won’t be cranky. You will be pleasant and enjoyable to be around, well fed and loving life. If you eat three cookies every single day, well lets just say that you definitely won’t feel good and your physique will take a toll if your daily diet consists of cookies. There is no need to restrict yourself completely from a goodie all together if you are trying to be mindful around the holidays. One cookie won’t derail you, just like one salad is not going to make you healthy. Make mindful decisions and enjoy yourself.

The second approach, sadly is what most people choose, which in my opinion is about the worst choice. The holidays only consist of a few days in these next two months. You will have family gatherings and work parties, but that doesn’t mean you have six parties a week for all of December, therefore, you definitely shouldn’t just throw in the towel with your health. You have many other days outside of your parties that you can make mindful and healthy decisions. It is way more difficult to lose that holiday weight instead of just controlling yourself and keeping a balanced approach throughout this Holiday season. If you have one flat tire, would you slash the other three? No, you wouldn’t. So same with your health, you maybe have some more weight you would love to lose, or other physical goals you’re trying to accomplish, but does that mean that you are going to quit entirely during the Holidays and lose all of the progress you have already made? No, that would be absurd. Not only is it difficult to make working out a discipline, but it is oh so difficult to consciously eat healthy as well. So do you think it is going to be a walk in the park to have to switch your diet back after six weeks of eating crap, and then on top of that lose ten pounds or more? No, that sounds so daunting and tragic. I know it’s not easy to eat healthy, even after a weekend of burgers and pizza, it always take so much to make a healthy salad or soup for dinner on Monday night. Don’t derail your progress, it doesn’t have to be that way, and you can still enjoy all of your favourite holiday goodies and traditions!

This all being said, I am super passionate about helping people go through their holidays with a healthy approach. My goodness that doesn’t mean strict diets, 2 hour long workouts, no alcohol, etc. It means being mindful throughout the holiday season so you can enjoy it to its fullest potential, as well as still feeling your greatest! I want to help YOU through these holidays. I am going to have a closed facebook group with healthy meal recipes for every single day, along with snack ideas, and on top of that, I am making a grocery list for you. I mean, it doesn’t get much simpler then that! That always takes so much time for me to come up with a meal plan that has variety and then writing out a list for the store. That will all be done for you, you don’t have to think about it, you’ll just have to run to the grocery store and grab those ingredients! They will be simple recipes too, no worries, I am all about healthy, convenient, and simplicity! The second component is the workouts, I will have different workouts written for everyday, with rest days too, no worries. The workouts will be able to be done at home or at the gym, and whenever works best for you! All of my workouts have videos that go along with them so you can refer to that if you are unsure of what the exercise looks like. Thirdly, I will be encouraging you along on your journey! I want YOU to feel your best. I want YOU to feel encouraged. I want YOU to feel positive. I want YOU to feel beautiful. I want YOU to feel confident. I want YOU to be uplifted this holiday season. YOU deserve it, and YOU are enough and have the right to feel all of these things during the holiday season! So join me this holiday season by making it the most enjoyable and beautiful holiday season yet! Email me, message me, or contact me however you choose, to join us in the month of December leading into the New Year! Start now, don’t wait, there is always going to be some reason or excuse holding you back from beginning your health journey, don’t let that happen this holiday season!

Happy Holidays

xoxo, Mara