Navigating the Christmas Period
As we get closer and closer to Christmas (I know you’re probably sick of hearing it)... but it IS only 6 weeks away!!
Let’s talk about what the heck we’re supposed to be doing between now and the end of the year.
Based on conversations with my clients, I’m hearing two different types of fitness goals.
There’s a group of you who are wanting to smash it before Christmas, knuckle down and really make some serious progress before you give yourselves a bit of a break over the holiday period…
And then there’s those of you who are just trying to make it to the end of the year fighting the urge to throw a heavy, breakable object at a very annoying person. Hopefully not me. Although that sounds extremely therapeutic, and it’s kind of fair - tbh.
Anyhoo – shall we discuss?
Firstly - spoiler alert (but is it really a surprise that I think this?) - there’s not really one approach which everyone should do.
What it comes down to is getting real with what it is that you actually want.
I don’t mean as in… ‘I want to be able to do a pull-up’. That’s you telling me that you want that, because you think I want to think that’s what you want.
Even if you do really want to do a pull-up, or achieve similar, related, impressive fitness milestones - you need to go deeper into understanding why you want that.
The best way to determine what it is that you want, is to first identify what’s actually important to you.
If looking after your wellbeing is important to you (which I’m sure it is) THEN you should ask yourself whether your plan of attack aligns with that.
If being a role model for your kids is important to you, ask yourself whether your actions align with that.
If maintaining a strong network of friendship, family and connection in your life is important to you, ask yourself whether your actions align with that.
You should never need to put your values on the backburner in order to reach a specific goal. If you find yourself doing that, perhaps your goal needs to shift, not your values.
We’re not all about being hardcore, no-days-off, no-pain-no-gain, hustle-for-the-muscle, discipline-is-king type of people here…
We’re working towards incorporating practical strategies into our routines that help us live more values-centric lives. Caring for our physical health, improving our body image and relationship with food and exercise helps to create access for us to do that more whole-heartedly.
We lean into what feels GOOD and easy and fun, so that we can feel vibrant in our everyday lives and focus more on what truly fills our cup.
Which probably isn’t 3 sets of 10 lat pull-downs or tracking your macros.
Ok, back to the question.
What should you be doing between now and the end of the year?
Identify what fills your cup, what’s important to you and what it is you actually want to achieve.
Ask yourself if your current actions OR the plan that you’ve set for yourself are aligned with both the long term goals you have for yourself AND your values.
So you definitely could use this period of time to work really hard in your training, work towards fat loss or focus on maintaining habits which you feel like are positive for you right now…
But be conscious of whether you are adding pressure that is leading you to sacrifice your capacity (mentally, emotionally, physically) in other important areas of your life.
You could also use this time as a break from thinking about fitness goals…
But be conscious of whether you are creating excuses to enable behaviours which you know aren’t helping you anyway.
