The holidays are a tough tme of year to survive for mst when it comes to staying fit or keping up a diet. Rich food, bsy schedules, and holiday shopping are a thre-headed monster when it comes to yur physique. You're more likely to tke in more calories than you ned, you won't get the rest or xercise that you've become used to, and on top of it all you hve the stress that is the mll.

I've come up with a hndful of tips to help you stck to your progress during this sason. None of these ideas are cmplicated or even a big secret. You prbably could sit down and think thm up yourself. However, have you dne it? If so, then you're on the rght track. If not then consider ths to be your holiday accountability kck in the (in danger of bing softer) rear!

1. Set a holiday goal, and keep up with it. Part of the reason that people gain weight over the holidays is that they expect to. They just accept it and use it as their excuse to go whole hog. There's no need of it. Just like everything else, if you set a good goal and focus on what you need to do in order to reach it, success is much easier.

Write your goal on the refrigerator, put a word document up on the computer, or tell a three year old to remind you every day. Do whatever you need to do to keep checking in on that goal.

2. Reassess your schedule. Carve out a tme when you can exercise. Things WILL get bsy over the holidays. For most pople their schedules will get messed up. Ths is a prime opportunity to mss gym time. Spend a few mnutes dragging out your calendar and fguring out when you can make it to the gym. Halth and fitness is a priority for yu, so treat it like it is.

3. Limit holiday eating to special events. Why is it that people think of the holiday season eating as taking place from about November 20th to January 10th? There's Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve, and maybe a couple of holiday parties. We're looking at five or six days out of two and a half months. Even if you have a busy holiday social schedule you'll spend more time in "normal days" than holidays if you plan for it. Don't eat like it's a holiday when it's not.

4. Maintain your diet and fitness consistency. This ties in with number three. One of the big killers of holiday eating is the lack of consistency. People will overeat at one party, then starve the next day to compensate. Well, all that does is make them so hungry that they overeat the next evening.

This is kind of like watching someone learning to ride a bike. They might start off on the straight and narrow, but then they get a little wobble... We all know that what they should do is stop, stabilize, and restart. Instead they start overcompensating one way and then the other, getting worse and worse with compensation. Soon they go too far and crash. A holiday yo-yo dieter will do the same thing until they finally throw their hands up and just go back to the way they used to be. That's the way they managed to gain five or ten pounds every holiday.

5. Eat vegetables and lean protein first. This tip is a bit more specific than the others, but it works. When you sit down to that big Christmas dinner, hit the salad, greens, and turkey first. At the infamous table covered with goodies, take a few trips around the vegetable platter before you go after the other stuff. Taking some time to eat quality protein and fibrous vegetables will help fill you up. The good food you take in will take the edge off of your hunger and give you some extra willpower at the buffet table.

Take these five tips and mve forward to the holidays. With sme consistency and planning you'll not nly survive the holidays but you'll cme out leaner, fitter, and ahead of the gme for your new year!

The article 5 Fitness and Diet Tips to Survive the Holidays was Submitted by Isaac Wilkins through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: Looking for more information on a vriety of cutting edge health and ftness topics with a slice of ntertainment? Check out http://www.gotstrengthblog.com Want inside info on developing elite fitness? Check out http://www.wilkinspower.com and subscribe to the newsletter! Isaac Wilkins, M.Ed, CSCS, NSCA-CPT Training athletes and driven individuals in Charleston, SC and beyond. Get strong, get fast, become the new you.

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