Surviving the Silly Season

Come November (and sometimes even October, you eager beavers!) we all loosen the reigns and start the descent into madness called the Silly Season. Sunshine, free time, family from far and wide around the house – it’s no surprise that the healthy habits and good intentions we’ve fostered over the year start to slide and sometimes, fall to pieces.

While having fun and relaxing is the ultimate goal – you’ve worked hard this year, reckless abandon is not the intended result. We can chill out while maintaining our focus, commitment and drive to accomplish our goals, year round!

Here are a few helpful hints & tricks to making sure Silly Season doesn’t swallow you whole.

• Keep Your Mind on the Fun, not the Food

There’s so much that happens around this time of year – gift shopping, family time, beach days and all the other fun activities in the holidays. Keep your focus on the fun activities and the time with your family & friends, rather than looking forward to the roast beef & trifle.

• Match your Wine and Water

We would need a few pairs of hands to count the number of occasions during this time of the year that are celebrated with some tipple. While we’d never encourage you to overindulge – a glass of bubbles at the stroke of midnight won’t hurt! Make sure to keep up the water habit though – try to match any glass of alcohol with a glass of water, on top of the usual water you drink in the day anyway.

• Don’t Set Yourself up for Disappointment

It’s with the best of intentions to wake up on a special festive day and say “No treats or indulgences today!” But you’re allowed to be kind to yourself – it’s only the holidays once a year, so have a little of the fun stuff because you can! Remember though, if you do get carried away around the buffet table – you have a clean slate to start from tomorrow.

• Keep Moving!

Having our holiday season in summer in the Southern Hemisphere is such a bonus – use the sunshine and our beaches, mountains, dams and rivers as opportunities to get outside and move your body. Perfect way to get the family together – pack a picnic, take a hike somewhere beautiful and enjoy the sunshine with your loved ones. Oh, and the gyms are always more quiet at this time of year 😉

• Get Your Rest

As tempting as it is to pull all-nighters with the family, partying until all hours; rest is still important. A good night’s sleep (around 8 hours) is proven to do a world of good for your health, so try as best as you can to make sure you’re getting enough shuteye.

• The Office Party

The end of the year brings with it not just family commitments, but obligations to celebrate another year done with colleagues at your annual year-end function. These get-togethers are notorious for getting a little rowdy (to be gentle) and often leave some with headaches & achey egos. Here are a few quickfire tips for making it out the other side with your body & soul intact: 

• Sometimes, these events offer only finger food or canapes, and not a good meal. Try to make sure you have a great breakfast the morning of, and a nutritious lunch if there’s time.
• Avoid the punch bowls or cocktail jugs (alcoholic or otherwise) – they can be filled with sugary booze like rum & gin, and/or fruit juices and cordials that add even more sugar!
• Eat the food on offer that you like, not what you’re offered. No obligations to eat any and all on offer. 
• To avoid the buffet table overindulgence, fill a plate then walk away and eat. Hovering at the table will only mean you’ll more than likely keep picking and eating. 

• Get right back on track

Get right back on track. One bad meal. One missed workout. One late night. One missed lesson. One incomplete habit. Don’t let it ever become two in a row. The longer you wait to get back on track, the worse it gets.

The most successful people slip up and get knocked down. But what sets them apart is that they learn how to get back up immediately. No waiting. No hiding. No excuses. 

We like to use the “One bad X” rule:

– Only one bad meal.
– Only one missed workout.
– Only one late night.

The goal is to never get two X’s in a row.

– If you have a bad meal, the next meal needs to be super healthy.
– If you had a late night, wake up the next morning and plan ahead so that you can get into bed early that night.
– If you miss a workout, do *something* active the very next day.

This time of year can throw everyone off the proverbial wagon, but sticking to the healthy habits you’ve fostered throughout the year and keeping a keen eye on your goals through the hustle of year end will make sure you’re ready, willing & able to grab the new year by the horns!