10 Day Holiday Fitness Challenge

Hi Your Fit Day Friends,

So I’ve been making my rounds of holiday parties over the past few weeks.  I really love this time of year. And you know what? I don’t stress about food or workouts. Instead I focus on being the most fit I’ve ever been in my life. And I do this every year. Actually I do this every day!! Is that humanly possible you ask? Well, it gives me another excuse to don my best apparel of tight sexy tops and jeans. I mean look, I’m a fitness diva who loves fine classic clothes down to their finest threads…which don’t come cheap. And in this economy who wants to have two or maybe even three sets of wardrobe sizes? Not me, and probably not you either.

And I love this time of year because it’s great for my business. In fact this past week I’ve gotten a tonne of the usual emails asking how not to gain weight over the holidays. But my favorite question was from college student Nikky Raney asking me advice on how to get in shape for the holidays.

Well, I’m glad you asked me Nikky, because it just shows me that there are some peeps out there who are paying attention to their waistlines and want to do something about it now, not on New Years Day.

Just The Facts Ma’am

We’ve all heard the dreaded numbers:  most people gain between 5-7 lbs of body fat between Thanksgiving and New Years Day. This fact is bad… but it’s not really that bad.  A study done by the  National Institutes of Health and the Medical University of South Carolina found that people in their study gained an average of about 1 pound from Thanksgiving through New Year’s Day. And less than 10 percent of the subjects gained 5 pounds or more over the holidays. But here’s the bad news: “That extra pound, on average, was still there for {a large number of }the group of participants who came back to be weighed almost a year later”.

And what do you think will happen the following holiday season? Just another 1 lb right? Well in five years that’s 5 lbs of accumulated fat. And that’s not even counting any other weight you might put on during the rest of the year. Sound familiar?

How many different sized pairs of ‘skinny jeans’ do you actually own?

What’s The Problem?

Excuses. That’s what I hear around the holiday season.

• Family is in town
• Family leaving town
• I’m going away
• holiday parties
• No time, I have to Xmas shop
• No time, I have to make my dreidel out of clay
• Everyone gains weight during this time of year
• It’s a lost cause this time of year
• I’ll just instead wait for after the New Year to start Debby’s IMPACT group training.
• The Grinch stole my work out. Whaaaaat?!!

• 

Listen, anyone can make excuses. But why let excuses run your life and rule your waistline when what it is you really want is to enjoy the holidays and feel great.

Well, I came up with a plan for all of you to jump start your New Year’s fitness plan. It’s really no different than how I plan each day of my Fit Day life:

That is, to get in the best shape of my life EVERY DAY. So let’s make it Your Fit Day so you can do the same.

Mind Over Matter

We all have our struggles that we go through. Hey, I’m not perfect. I’m human too. Now although I don’t eat sugar or pastries, candy or cream pies, I can relate to what you are going through. You see, starting from the age of 16 through age 21 I had an eating disorder where I barely ate enough to fuel my athletic achievements. And from age 21 to about age 27 I had a sugar addiction. I’m sure some of you can relate.

My pleasure was sugar gumballs.

I would be -line for the bubble gum bins and load up on bag fulls, making excuses to myself why I couldn’t do without. And once that sugar touched my tongue, and I’d eaten so much that I was in sugar-high heaven, I’d throw in the towel and just devour the entire bag. I mean, I had already done the damage so there was nothing I could do at that point, right? Sound familiar? Wait, there’s more.

Then I would set a date to stop this behavior. I’d say, ‘Tomorrow I won’t buy any more. Tomorrow I’ll start my new program’. But another excuse would find me, I’d rationalize it, and I’d push the change date to the ‘Really, I’m gonna change this behavior’ date… whenever that was. But this didn’t do me any good. It just made me ‘fat-fit’ in the belly, sluggish, tired and depressed.

Finally, (thank the Universe for providing me clarity), I just got tired of being sick and tired. I wanted to be strong and I didn’t want to stress about what I put in my mouth. I didn’t want to count all my calories – or lack there of- when I ate; I didn’t want to be tired and depressed. Without energy I knew my body was not strong and that it lacked the muscle to stoke my metabolism.

From Bones To Brawn

So when I was 21 I just woke up one morning and set out for one of the greatest challenges of my life: to become strong and fit. No, let me rephrase that: to be the strongest and fittest I could be, every day of my life. I just said to myself, ‘Today I am a bodybuilder and I am going to be up on stage, and I’m going to have the body of Gladys Portugues, and everything that goes into my mouth will build my body and mind and spirit. And I will not stop until I get there. And when I get there I will keep going…’

Well, if you’ve seen a picture of Gladys,

and then you saw me (I’m still looking for the picture), that was a huge challenge that I was committing to. But I believed that I could do it. There was no limit. I was always athletic and ‘fit’ and determined.  So I set my goals and changed my ways.

I believed in a new reality.

What I did, right then, was change my own perception of who I was.  In my minds eye I had the body that I dreamed of, and I was lifting really heavy objects, and I was taking control. Every day was a new challenge in the gym, kitchen, socially, and especially in regards to self discovery; and I made this all a priority in my life. I let go of my limiting belief that I was bound to this addiction of surrendering to sugar.

And whatever it is that you are surrendering to during the holiday season you too can rise to the challenge and change your belief system.

Do Not Surrender!

I Challenge You

So, I’m going to challenge you to get in the best shape of your life every single day from now until January first. That’s right. EVERY DAY! Change your belief system and become that fit, energetic, youthful, stress-less person. And then just keep going.

The Plan

Disclaimer: Please consult with your doctor before starting a workout plan. With that being said:

1. Commit To Be Fit: Start a journal. On the cover write ‘Your Fit Day‘. Under that write: ‘Everyday is the first day of the rest of my fitness life’. This is your new mantra. Now, say the Your Fit Day Mantra every morning upon waking, and again upon going to sleep.
2. Work Out Everyday even on Xmas day and New Years day for 10-30 minutes, with some high intensity training. For Beginners: Start by warming up with 5 minutes of walking, then every other minute walk briskly for a minute or for as long as you can and then go back to walking. Start with 10 minutes and increase by 1-2 minutes each day. Intermediate and Advanced: Pep up your step and do interval training using your entire body. Do a circuit of exercises like skipping rope, burpees, one legged jumps, bicycles, pull-ups, sumo jump squats, V-ups, plank variations, side to side lunges. This is just an example of a circuit. You can make these time challenges, or intervals of 50 seconds max effort, and 10 seconds rest. Be creative. Have fun. Play.  Be sure to check out The Ultimate Sandbag Systems workouts that you can do in your home. I just bought the combo package and I’ll  soon be posting some of my own workouts on my blog using the Sandbag, so keep checking back. P90 and P90x are also good home fitness solutions.
3. Eat Wholesome and Lean Foods and good fats up until Xmas eve.
4. Go to be social. Change your limiting beliefs around ‘parties’. Nobody says you have to eat sweets and fatty carbohydrates at holiday parties in order to be social. Save it for the big family meal on Xmas and New Years. Enjoy a light protein snack or a handful of nuts before you go to the holiday parties. When you’re there forage the room for the veggie platter and opt for lemon with water instead of fruit punches and alcohol.
5. Pick Your Pies Prudently: Limit yourself to tasting 2 deserts and only have a couple bites of each. Chances are you’re not hungry anyway and after savoring the first couple of bites you’ll have satisfied your sweet tooth.
6. Say the YFD Mantra
7. Repeat

You have the next TEN days to make it Your Fit Day, every day, for the rest of your life.

I’m challenging you.

Are you up for it?

Leave your comments below.