It’s challenge time…. not to be confused with hammer time.

Yup, it’s challenge time!

In September, there are three birthdays in my family, so the whole flipping month is full of sweets, and I always gain weight. Gaining weight for me isn’t about the scale, it’s about enjoying and celebrating BIG days and maintaining a balance between my fitness goals and family special events. It’s also about the fact that I CHOOSE to prioritize creating lasting memories (which sweet treats sometimes, just so happen to be apart of in this house) over a couple of pounds. However, come October, I have this hard push to get my shit back in order. October is what I do to get back on track as a professional personal trainer. Challenges are always going to come and go in our lives, and these ebbs and flows are normal, as long as the flow comes back….

We have discussed before that there is a thing called “good” stress and also “bad” stress. When we train, we use “good” stress to challenge our muscles so that they grow stronger and more resilient. When we start worrying about the holiday season, cooking the turkey for Thanksgiving, or about how we have to fit in ALL the visits with ALL the family members, even creepy uncle Bob; or when you feel really alone and really far away from the ones you love, well, those are all examples of “bad” stress. During the holiday season, we tend to stress about living up to unrealistic expectations, added responsibilities, and we tend to forgo healthy eating and give up exercise. The challenge with this is that healthy eating and exercise are both great ways of handling “bad” stress. It becomes cyclical, and the more we stress, the less we focus on the things that make us feel good. Talk about challenging times.

Now, the thing about weight and the holiday season is that studies show, on average, Americans only gain about 1 pound. This may not seem like a big deal, but believe me, the shit that comes along with the 1 pound of weight is pretty heavy. Not to mention, people usually don’t end up losing the weight gained after the holidays – this can add up year after year. Putting the scale aside, the extra pound of weight isn’t about having your jeans feel a little snugger either, it’s about the fact that the holiday season not only challenges us with “bad” stress but also encourages a sedentary lifestyle with overeating calorie-heavy food that isn’t healthy (albeit so very yummy 🤤). I’m all for being on a healthy and nutritious bandwagon that we will fall off of from time to time, but the thing about large amounts of holiday food, is that come January, when you think it’s time to go cold turkey, it’s not that simple. Sugar makes it especially difficult to kick once you start mainlining it and a healthier snack becomes more of a challenge to choose. On top of that, it affects your microbiome, so that when you make that New Years’ resolution, it will take you more than a couple of months to return to the flow of your healthy lifestyle and escape your consequent choices. Here’s the real kicker, new evidence suggests that once you gain weight, your body will work against you to keep it there. This is partially why people give up. Because they “were” healthy and they “were” losing weight before the holidays, and now, it’s March, and they still feel bloated, cranky, and about to try a diet that we all know isn’t a long-term, effective solution for weight loss.

I’m always up for a “good” kind of challenge, but stressing yourself and your body to this extreme over the holidays is not the kind of challenge I would recommend. But I also get it… and not like, oh, look, Sam is patting me on the back (virtual hug style) and telling me that everything will be OK.

No. 😝

But I am here for you and with you, and we are going to make it through the holiday season together, in style, and we will enjoy it, and eat some good food, it’s just a small pivot in mindset.

No… really, it is. 😁

Speaking of challenges, I personally like to lose weight during the holiday season. I like to go against the grain and kind of take pride in doing what others think they can’t (EVEN MORE enJOYment comes when I can show others they can “do”, too). Considering that the holiday season is one of the hardest times of the year to lose weight, I love THIS challenge. It’s the kind of internal, warm, sparkly joy you get by saying ‘watch me do.’ I still make Christmas cookies (more to come, I use sugar alternatives), I still steal a piece or two of my kid’s Halloween candy… AND EAT IT 😱 (although I’m not gonna lie… I have chewed and spit candy in the trash- AND POSTED it on Instagram), I sit down and enjoy the Thanksgiving meal. The challenge for me here is twofold – 1) I challenge myself to do things people don’t think are possible, and through that, 2) motivate others and show them that they can do whatever they set their mind to, as well.

I know… but watch me do. Watch you do. Watch all of us do.

So here we go, I know that you know how I’m challenging myself, but I wouldn’t be doing my job as a personal trainer without challenging you to do, too…. WATCH US DO!

Remember how I told you that I CHOOSE to prioritize sweet treats with the family, at times, over being stringent and only focusing on my fitness goals. Well, this is what I teach my clients, and what I want to teach you. It’s about picking and choosing. You first have to decide if you are CHOOSING to make this year different; not falling into the typical habit of going overboard on indulgences throughout the holiday season and then feeling shameful and guilty about it (at any given point, really) come January and set the resolution to get back to, or maybe become an even healthier version of your-last-year-self. After deciding to STAY healthy or to start working on that healthier version of yourself NOW, you then have choices inside the challenge. THIS is where we utilize self-discipline and start re-training our brains, emotions, and habitual selves to make decisions that fall in line with our goals. We still live life. We still enjoy ourselves, and we don’t feel like we are deprived. We make choices and we know that whatever choices we are making are going to have consequences- good and “bad”. We own up to those and keep giving 100% of ourselves NO MATTER WHAT so that when January rolls around there is NO resolution to make because we are well on our way, if not AT that finish line already!

Training-
Workout and be active. I want to see you hit it harder than you ever have before, not just during the holidays, but EVER! SHOW ME HOW YOU DO!!!!!!
You will be taking before and after pictures, which will help me decide the challenge winner. Though this will be an important factor, it won’t be the only factor I take into consideration.

Nutrition-
Eat the cleanest you’ve ever eaten during the holidays. Does this mean you don’t get to partake in Thanksgiving delights, or have a drink, and an hors d’oeuvre, AND a dessert at your company holiday party? Not at all. This is where the picking-and-choosing comes in. When you choose those things, you have to make up for them elsewhere. On the flip side of that, when you choose to stay in “the fast lane” (to your goals), you obviously are getting to those goals that much quicker and easier, which for me (ALMOST always) is more of a treat than the food itself (there’s also the added benefit of showing myself I can, in fact, do).

Mindset-
Bonus stevia brownie points if you choose to participate and read a book from a list I will be providing and include a video (to just me or the entire group) describing how the mindset challenge impacted your nutrition and/or training challenges (and hopefully your whole life, in general)…. basically, DO IT, don’t ebb, go with the flow.

I will choose a winner based on the effort applied and the commitment to staying focused and communicating with me and the group…. oh, did I forget to mention, this challenge comes with a private motivational Facebook group (I didn’t say I’m TOTALLY against motivation, I just don’t believe in putting all my eggs in that delicate, little basket). Here, I will be keeping tabs on everyone in the challenge and helping to keep each of you moving in the right direction. So, even if you don’t win the challenge, you gain some new fit friends and lose some unnecessary attitudes and beliefs about what you can or cannot do… and possibly a few pounds as well!

So, let’s go over this one more time, just to be sure everything is concise and understood. To join in the challenge, you must:

1- CHOOSE to make the shift and challenge yourself to make this holiday season different from the rest.

2- Join the Facebook group AND participate 🙂

3- The only part I haven’t mentioned yet- it’s $50 to enter. Why? Because it’s not too much that people feel they can’t afford it during the holidays, but HOPEFULLY enough to give people the slight kick in the ass and help me to hold them accountable in the beginning (and possibly throughout) the challenge.

4-Set a personal, achievable goal to reach over the next seven weeks- we start November 16th and ride this MFer until Jan 1!!!!

5- Give 100%, every single day… whatever that may look like, in each given moment- because like I have said before, this can shift from day to day, but it’s not an excuse to be lazy or do less. It means you are giving it everything you’ve got, and there’s nothing more to it.

#wellness #training #mindset #balance #fitness #workouts #yesyoucan #rushintofitness #holidaychallenge #fitnesschallenge #2020 #nutrition #healthyweight #weightloss