Watching the Pounds this Christmas

With our social calendars jam-packed as we head into the festive season, it can be difficult to maintain a regular fitness routine for health and wellbeing.

Our days and evenings can be so busy that it seems fitting in exercise is next to impossible. But online personal training at home could be the answer.

Here are some tips from online fitness coach Shelley Booth, creator of The Feel Look Be Formula on how to fit exercise into your busy festive schedule:

1. Create a buddy system - Whether it’s a long walk in the park or a local run, exercising outdoors with a buddy is the perfect way to not only stay motivated but also ensure you are fitting in that all-important Christmas socialising. Share some festive clean eating treats from my recipe e-book.

Enjoy walking when it’s cold just wrap up and breathe in that fresh air it’s great for your mindset! Motion leads to positive emotion… no matter what happens in your life, walk the stresses off!!

2. Fast your way slim - If you have a festive night out planned, why not try intermittent fasting? You can skip breakfast one or two mornings the week leading up to your night out to allow you to indulge without undoing all of your effort and hard work. Skipping a meal isn’t necessarily just for weight loss, the benefits of intermittent fasting are well researched and documented. I created a video to let you understand some of these benefits - watch that here.

3. Food swaps - Festive food swaps are easy, just avoid the processed stuff and hidden sugars - replace these with real foods. I love a baked sweet potato and cinnamon spiced glaze - it tastes like a banana fritter! Check out all of my recipes in my recipe e-book here. If you are drinking alcohol, enjoy it, just don’t overdo it as the hangover and associated dehydration will make you crave all those foods that make you to feel bloated, not to mention gain weight! I don’t drink a lot, but when I do, I have a glass of water between each tipple. I also minimise the sugar-laden drinks and tend to stick with gin and tonic, slice of lemon! Just a few...

4. Rise and shine - Undeniably the worst thing about winter is the cold and dark mornings - finding that motivation to exercise first thing can be tough compared to summer. Using an online fitness tool, especially one with a live stream in a morning, is the perfect way to start your day right with some physical exercise and motivation without impacting on your evening social calendar

5. Work out at home - Online training has boomed in the last five years and has been further accelerated by lockdown closing down gyms across the country. Half of the adults in the UK purchased home workout products during the pandemic and 75% intend to continue working out at home post pandemic, according to latest research from GlobalData. Programmes such as the Feel Look Be Formula are perfectly set up for working out at home and now, users have access to three live yoga sessions per week

Shelley Booth’s Feel Look Be January Detox 4-week holistic approach to health is launching on January 10th. The programme brings nutrition, movement, mindset and knowledge together to help you achieve real, sustainable results. It's the detox we will all need after Christmas and New Year!

Find out more about Feel Look Be here.