Merry early Christmas y’all! Hope everyone is gearing up for a good holiday, and hopefully you get a little time off work to spend with friends and family and relax a little bit. For me, I had PTO to burn so I took a nice long 6-day weekend and I’m definitely looking forward to some downtime.

The holidays can be a super fantastic time, and it’s also a time to indulge – and sometimes OVER indulge – in all kinds of Christmas goodies. Not saying that’s entirely a bad thing! It’s the holidays, you deserve to enjoy some treats. But if you’re anything like me, the treats are EVERYWHERE and oh so tempting. I’ve definitely been eating a lot of sugar over the last week lol.

We’re also less than two weeks away from entering a new year, and I know losing weight and exercising more are very popular New Year’s resolutions. So with that being said, I wanted to share a few tips on how to create some healthy habits this winter.

It’s been a while since I’ve written a blog about exercise, so you had to have known I was due for one sooner or later. 😉

Y’all, the most common excuse I hear for not exercising is, “I don’t have time.” And there are some days where you’re running around like a chicken with its head cut off and you truly don’t have time – I get it. But I promise, on any normal day – you have time.

One of the most important habits to form if you want to get into shape and get healthier, is to practice self discipline.

You don’t have to spend a ton of time working out every day. Even if you get 20-30 minutes in a day, you’re doing great! Are you telling me you can’t wake up 20 minutes earlier every day and squeeze in a quick workout? It might suck for a short while, but I promise you, getting up is the hard part. Once you’re moving, you’ll be glad you got up.

It kind of reminds me of my swimming days in a way. I swam for 16 years, and by far the worst part of every practice was first hopping into that cold pool. But once you were in, you were golden! Getting out of bed to get moving in the morning is exactly the same.

And there are so many alternatives to working out too. I run at least 3-4 days a week. Even in the winter time, as long as it’s not 20 below zero, we’re usually bundled up and out there. But I know running isn’t for everyone.

If you have a gym membership, utilize it! The mornings are usually a little less hectic than right after work, so use that time to get in there.

Don’t have a gym membership or can’t afford one? You don’t need one of those either! There are tons of body weight exercises you can do right from your living room. There are a ton of apps out there that you can get for free or at least much cheaper than a gym membership too.

I have two apps that I use pretty consistently. One is strictly for yoga, and the other is yoga, strength, endurance, and pretty much anything you can think of. Some of the workouts on that app do require some equipment, but there are plenty that don’t require anything but your body and a little bit of space. I’ll link them below for you to check out.

These are the two apps I use every week. Neither of them are free, but they’re not expensive. It’s been so long since I bought them, I can’t really remember how much they were, but it wasn’t crazy. I also know I have some friends who are very against anything Nike, but I also have yet to find a strength based app I like better than this one. So, sorry!

If exercising every day seems like an aggressive goal for you, then start with every other day. Another part of sticking to a new routine is making sure it’s something you can handle. If you go balls to the wall right off the bat, you’re gonna burn out and you’re not going to stick with it. Start small and work your way up.

Get an accountability partner! About half my workouts every week are with other people. I’ll admit that there are days I really don’t want to go for a run, but knowing there are people there waiting for me, helps me get my butt out the door. It’s also more enjoyable and goes by a little quicker if you have someone to talk to.

So, if you’re looking to start some new habits this holiday/winter season, start with the tips I listed above. Everybody is different, so ultimately listen to what your body is telling you, and only do what you can handle. But also don’t be afraid to push yourself outside of your comfort zone a little bit. No pain, no gain after all! 😉

I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas, and if you need an accountability partner to work off some of those Christmas goodies, you know where to find me!

Until next time! 🙂

Megan Nelson