Its nearly upon us… that time of year when your calender goes nuts, there’s no time for exercise because you’re too busy going to Christmas parties and end of year functions, and if you’re a parent you’ll have prize givings, end of year picnics, graduations and sports days to attend. Budgets go out the window as you source the perfect gift and catch more taxis … diets go out the window because the food is so good and you tell yourself you’ll get back on track in January.
In NZ we seem to go completely crazy, I think it’s because the weathers getting warmer, evenings are lighter and we feel summer approaching. We also know, come January, we can kick off our shoes and escape to the beach to recover and no-one will care because that’s what half the country are doing anyway.
At Pinnacle Life we like to feel prepared, especially in case of the unexpected! So, if you want to get to January not feeling completely wrecked here’s a few tips.
Eating and drinking
- Eat before you go! Don’t go to any function hungry, have a healthy snack like fruit and nuts before you go then you won’t be so likely to pig out when you get there
- Stick to the 1-1 rule. For every glass of alcohol down a glass of water, this will keep you hydrated. When you get home try and drink 2 more glasses of water to really nail it.
- Offer to drive sometimes. This gets double points; one for no alcohol and another for saving money on not getting a taxi.
Exercise
- Fit in some exercise first thing in the morning. Get up slightly earlier and fit in a walk or run around the block or a short gym session before work (even 15-20 minutes is ok!) and feel guilt free when you hit the town that night.
- Don’t go more than 5 days without exercising. It’s ok to miss a few sessions but try not to stop for all of December. It will be much easier to get going again in January if you’ve kept up the exercise a little bit.
Socialising
- Print out a December planner and write in everything you’ve got on for your whole family. If just looking at it makes you freak out and have heart palpitations work out which events you actually don’t HAVE to go to and take them off the calendar. This includes events for the kids too!
- Make time for your good friends. Look at the plan and consider who will be at the events. Are they people who make your heart sing or people who drain your energy? Make sure some of your socialising is with people who fill you up with joy.
- Plan when to shop. Now that you can see your whole month, work out when you’re going to do the Christmas shopping. This is especially important if you need to get it done before the kids break up from school!
- Factor in some down time. Once you’ve got the month sitting in front of you pick a day to keep free. This is your back up plan day.
Money
- Set a Christmas gift budget first. DON’T just head to the shops looking for ideas. Work out how much you have available to spend, write a list of who you need to buy for then divvy up the budget between them. Pro tip – budget to spend more on your mother than Great Aunt Sally.
- Take it one step further and get online and price everything up. If you can order online even better. This one gets triple points, 1 it means you will stick to your budget for that item, 2 you save time by not wandering around the shops or looking for a car park and 3 you won’t be tempted by other things in shop windows or spend money on food when you need to refuel from all your shopping.
Christmas comes once a year. It’s a time for families, friends and celebrations, so keep everything in balance and you’ll be ready to rock in the New Year rather than just being glad 2017 is over.
