Confessions Of A December Self Saboteur

Ah…the holiday season…one where we enjoy the fruits of our labor from the long year that is about to pass by celebrating as much as we can, throwing caution to the wind and living life in excess.

Glorious times, indeed.

By why is that during this time we toss out most of the discipline we worked so hard to achieve from January on?

Although there are 12 months in a year, we always seem to find ourselves being accountable with our goals for only about 10 months and three weeks of them…and this December Self Saboteur made the same bold statements and mistakes year in and year out during this festive time of year.

The Holidays, by and large, are the biggest self sabotage mindf**k of them all when it comes to personal growth. Whether it be physical and/or mental, we tend to treat December like a yearly siesta where every day is a rest day, swearing once January hits…well we will just magically flip a switch and turn our wants and desires right back on and not skip a beat.

December is the weekend of months, with January being the yearly Monday morning we dread.

Let that mentally marinade for just a second.

Friday afternoon and the clock finally hits 5pm hits on a long exhausting week, and all we want to do is celebrate. No time for the gym or nutrition plans we worked so hard for from Monday-Friday morning, it’s time to enjoy the fruits of our labor and hell…you worked hard this week so bring on the party!! This is what Fridays and Saturdays are made for, right? Screw it, we will be back on our plan come Monday morning anyway, how much damage could we possibly do?

Sound like a certain month we are all so fond of?

Now, I am certainly not advocating for you to shut down your parties and all of a sudden become Ebenezer Scrooge yelling “Bah, Humbug!” as you feverishly pedal angrily on your Peloton while a party is rocking from the neighbors across the street.

Far from it.

What we need is balance, and a clear plan. To have your cake and well…eat it too.

Here are some suggestions from a former “Wait till January” guy:

• Don’t call it a “Cheat meal”. Cheat is a dirty word that makes you feel guilty about what you’ve just done so you must punish yourself by running extra hard tomorrow, or worse yet, getting so down on yourself you just throw it all away and determine the weekend a failure and do whatever you want. You worked hard, reward yourself responsibly and without guilt knowing you’ll be back on the workout train tomorrow.
• Enough with the “If I spend 20 more minutes on this elliptical that’s 120 calories or one more beer I can have!”. Utter nonsense. Get out of that mindset. You cannot outwork an awful diet. But if you are awesome 80% of the time that 20% won’t kill your gains, it may make it slower…but it won’t kill them altogether.
• Listen to your body. How do you feel after that night of food and drink? Sluggish? Bloated? Tired? Now ask yourself how you feel a half hour after your workout. Happy? Exhilarated? Accomplished? Remember that feeling when you want to skip a workout and remember the other feeling when you feel like you’re not drunk or full enough. Your body is giving you the proper signals…listen to them.
• The only workout that’s a bad one is the one you don’t do. Again, it comes down to the above point: If the mindset is: “I only have 30 minutes and that’s not enough time and I’ll definitely eat and drink more than that anyway so I’ll hit it extra hard tomorrow…”…Wrong. Set the timer for 20 minutes and do a circuit of full body exercises. You’ll feel wired, awesome, accomplished, and still give yourself enough time to enjoy the night’s festivities.
• When you do “slip up” forgive yourself. It isn’t the end of the world. Pick it all up and make a difference today, not tomorrow. You got this.
• Drink water in between drinks and snacking. You may be surprised how much good it does for you during the night and the next day.

Admittedly, I am not a nutritionist or a personal trainer (studied both feverishly but have not completed...yet): but I have lived both sides of the spectrum and I know what both situations feel like, and truth be told, I enjoy this side of the coin and I think there are a few of you that can benefit from this mindset as well. I reward myself when I want to, without guilt, and by and large I stick to my plan and feel amazing about it while enjoying every bit of holiday festivities just fine, and I certainly don’t sit there and eat celery and carrots while others dine to their hearts content.

The bottom line here is this: December is still a good month to have goals and to throw an entire month away is only going to make what you wanted even harder than it was the week before Thanksgiving.

Time to get moving, Frosty.