50+ Lifestyles

The Holidays are Over and My Pants are a Little Tighter

By Logan Anderson, BA, CPT, CIFT
Owner of All Strong Fitness LLC

With the holidays officially in the books, lives are starting to go back to normal. Individuals taking extended leave from work, loved ones visiting from outside towns, and holiday activities, are all packing up for the season. Unfortunately, for many of us, the joy of the holidays ending is not the only negative thing we run into. With food typically being a cornerstone of every holiday event, we often find ourselves over indulging on our favorite foods not once, not twice, but often numerous times over the few months the holidays take over. Despite our best efforts, we have found ourselves looking down at a scale that once read a number smaller than what it reads today. This often will continue a spiral downwards for individuals as they move through the rest of the year, with a sense of learned helplessness.

With a strong mindset, you can shrug off the past, and embrace your health into the new year.
One of the biggest pieces of advice that I can give is to stay consistent. Giving up on your health and wellness goals after a slip up through the holidays, is a sure-fire way to add more weight onto the scale, and let your health further deteriorate. Reminding yourselves that keeping up on your health takes time and that slip ups are inevitable, will help keep your mental sanity in check. How much you weigh and feel today doesn’t have to foreshadow your future. However, giving up will surely add fuel to the fire in getting rid of any progress you’ve made.

The New Years are a great time for self-reflection, and improvement in our lives. A fresh start, we can allow the New Years to be a springboard to success and prosperity, wherever we focus our energy. When picking up on our health and wellness goals, I encourage you to start small. We have big goals and ideas for ourselves, which typically lead to failure, followed by disappointment. If you have never exercised or followed a healthy diet, make small, calculated changes to your lifestyle. Adding in ten minutes of walking a day or cutting back to one can of soda a day can make a huge difference long term. You are trying to build confidence in your abilities, and slowly change your habits and mindset on health. A ten-minute walk today, can be a thirty-minute walk in a few months. One can of soda today, can be replacing soda entirely with water in a few months. Pick something small and give it a shot!

Good luck on your new year goals, and from everyone at All Strong Fitness, we wish you a Happy New Year!

For more information, please contact Logan Anderson, owner of All Strong Fitness LLC. He can be reached at (563) 210-3701 or by email: allstrongfitnessllc@gmail.com.