By Kassia Garfield, Owner, MaxStrength Fitness
Happy Holidays from MaxStrength Fitness of Niceville! This time of year is a great time for family gatherings, celebrating friendship and community! It is very easy to make excuses to wait until the New Year to start healthy habits. However, if we make unhealthy decisions for two months, it only makes getting started harder! It can be difficult to find a balance, but here are some healthy tips to help make this time of year easier on the body!
With so many delicious home-made goodies, people showing off their culinary skills, it can be hard to say no to temptation! This is also the time of year people often put their diet and health on the back burner; and, funny, there is a correlation in illness, sickness and the flu starting right around now. What people don’t realize is how much healthy habits affect our immune system. Spikes to our insulin levels decrease our immune responses. People often assume the colder weather causes illness. But, really, the start of cold and flu season is the holidays. Not only are there are more gatherings and opportunities for disease to spread, but also our eating habits change with a large increase in high sugar items, compromising our immune system.
The more our insulin system spikes (when eating high sugar foods), the less our immune system can fight off disease. The more sugar, pumpkin spiced lattes and grandma’s chocolate cream pies we eat this season, the more likely we are to get sick. Sugar in the blood stream specifically decreases white blood cell’s response to destroying foreign invaders, hence leaving our immune system compromised. Too much sugar can also lead to inflammatory responses in the body, which can lead to not feeling great, stiffness and the beginning of other disease processes.
So, How Do We Stay Healthy?
The key is not seeing the whole holiday season as a “cheat” time of year. Maintain moderation and set some small rules for yourself. Only one cookie, eating only dessert once a day, or eating only homemade items—nothing store bought.
Exercise is an easy way to help decrease blood sugar levels. So, add a walk after overindulgences—your muscles can absorb sugar in the blood stream when there are glucose spikes, which can decrease the insulin response. Also, eating protein before eating high sugar items can decrease the insulin response. So, focusing on the timing or order of what we eat can help, too.
Most people stay away from starting new routines this time of year. But, why wait till January! Getting into a healthier exercise routine now will only counteract the changes to diet that everyone seems to have this time of year (starting with Halloween). There is always an excuse during the holidays that “we will start exercising later.” But everyone should start to find time now. With more days off, there is actually more time, even though it feels like a busy season.
Set realistic goals about diet and exercise. Get into the gym now while it is not crowded to find your balance and routine. Be kind to yourself with overindulgences, but know that to maintain fitness and health goals, there needs to be some self-discipline. Also, if you feel you are eating more, just increase your activity during the day, such as adding an extra walk, yoga class or strength-training session.
Here at MaxStrength Fitness, we are always around to help you start an appointment based, high intensity workout-style routine that can fit into anyone’s day, with just 20 minutes, twice a week. Let us know if we can jump start your fitness goals during this holiday season. Be Strong!
