Thanksgiving is right around the corner, and you know what that means: Thanksgiving dinner. Turkey, stuffing, pie, sweet potatoes, and every other delicious, carb-heavy food you can imagine. However, that’s not always the most exciting prospect if you’re on a diet. If after Thanksgiving you find yourself sluggish and struggling to get back to your normal healthy diet, here are a few exercise tips that can get you back on track.
The hard part: getting started
Ultimately, when it comes down to it, the hardest part of getting back into the swing of things after a big holiday is getting your momentum back. Disruptions to your normal routine make it easy to put off working out again, especially if you generally live a fairly sedentary lifestyle. There’s no shame in struggling to stay active; in fact, around 28.0% of Americans, or 80.2 million people, aged six and older are physically inactive. The best way to get past this is to pick a day and do some sort of exercise – it doesn’t have to be much, it just has to be enough to get you off the couch. From there, you can use these methods to stay moving more frequently.
Pick an activity you like
When most people think of exercise, they think of it as a hassle or a boring part of their day they don’t want to do. Instead, try to pick an activity you already know you enjoy and make it into your daily workout. Are you a sports fan? Instead of watching your favorite game on TV, get involved in the action yourself. You don’t have to be a professional athlete to see benefits – simply playing tennis for fun, for example, can burn around 169 calories in 30 minutes for a woman, and 208 calories in 30 minutes for an average man. Many gyms offer indoor spaces for you to practice your favorite sport, so pick an activity and get to it.
Take advantage of chores
Not much of a sports fan? There are still plenty of opportunities for you to tackle two chores in one by incorporating exercise into your other daily to-dos. Try to stay moving while cleaning up around the house, or take a few more trips up and down the stairs instead of carrying everything in one go. If you’ve got a household pet, try taking them on more frequent walks. Most dogs benefit from daily aerobic exercise and a 30-minute walk, and your own fitness goals can benefit as well.
Have fun with it
Finally, one of the easiest ways to get back into the swing of working out is to make it as fun as possible. The more enjoyable you find exercise, the more likely you are to keep at it, even on days where you might feel a bit tired. Set goals and reward yourself for hitting them. On top of that, try adding something you enjoy to your normal workout routine, like listening to music. Listening to music while exercising can actually improve work out performance by 15%. Maybe invite a friend or two and turn your work-out routine into a group activity. The more ways you can make exercise enjoyable, the likelier it is you’ll be able to get back to it after the holidays.
Thanksgiving can throw a serious wrench into anyone’s diet and exercise plans, and if you’re not careful, these bad habits can set you up for a struggle going into the new year. Instead, make use of these tips to crush your fitness goals as 2019 draws to a close.
