With the Thanksgiving holiday fast approaching, you might be feeling your motivation is beginning to slip. While you’re normally very motivated with your workout program, now that you are forced to take a few days off for the holiday (if you are traveling) or simply know you’ll be feasting on a large meal may have your motivation taking a dip for the worse.
It can be hard to keep motivation going strong when you aren’t able to give 110% as you normally would, but often, the best remedy to that is to still find a way to give 110%.
Here are six motivational tips that’ll help you push through the holidays, making the most of what each day brings.
Get Creative With Home Workouts
Just because you don’t have access to a gym does not mean your workouts need to fall by the wayside. Get creative and come up with an ultra-intense home workout challenge to get through.
For instance, try the 100 rep burpee protocol. Try and perform 100 burpees straight, taking as little rest as possible. You’ll be gasping for air by the time you’re through.
Or, go back and forth between bodyweight squats, push-ups, and pull-ups, doing 20 reps at a time until 20 rounds have been completed. You may not even make it to the end of this one.
Don’t overcomplicate your home workouts. You don’t need to be doing hundreds of fancy exercises to get a good workout in. Use a few basics and turn to the structure of the workout to give you the added challenge you’re looking for.
Plan Your Thanksgiving As A Refeed Meal
If you are set on continuing on a fat loss plan through the holidays, use the high-calorie meal to your advantage. Rather than letting it throw off your results, tighten up your diet in the four to five days leading up to the meal and then use the dinner as your refeed.
The sudden high influx of calories can help to jumpstart a slowed metabolic rate (which can happen during intense periods of dieting), helping you actually see superior fat loss results.
When done this way, the holiday meal is actually just a part of your standard diet protocol. As such, there’s no reason not to be motivated for it.
Pre-Plan Activity Into Your Thanksgiving Holiday
If it’s the thought of laying around all day on Thanksgiving that has you down and experiencing low motivation, change that. Instead, pre-plan some activity into your Thanksgiving day.
Perhaps before the meal is ready, you’ll get your family out for a brisk walk around the neighborhood or play a game of touch football with your visiting relatives.
If you plan for this ahead of time, you might find that it’s not doing quite the number on your overall motivation.
Join Or Create A Challenge Group
Perhaps you are someone who is going to try and get through the holiday with both your diet and workout intact. Despite there being so many food options on that dinner table, you plan to only eat what your diet calls for. Holiday or no holiday, you are sticking to your plan.
If that’s your frame of mind, keep your motivation going strong by joining a challenge or transformation group. This way you’ll be interacting with others who are trying to do the same and can inspire each other to push through those difficult days.
If you can’t find a challenge group, simply create one of your own. Round up a few co-workers, friends, or turn online and find some people who want to be part of your challenge.
Keep Things In Perspective
Finally, consider taking a step back. In reality, Thanksgiving is one meal. You’ll eat approximately 35-42 meals per week if you are eating 5-6 meals a day, meaning this one meal accounts for less than 3% of your total week. Don’t let yourself get stressed out and worried over such a small thing. Realize that even if you do indulge a bit, this is just one meal. That’s no reason to abandon your diet entirely and quite putting in effort the 41 meals leading up to it.
Stay strong. Keep things in perspective and you might just find it doesn’t do quite the number on your motivation.
If you remember these guidelines and try one or two of these strategies, you should find that you can keep your motivation levels strong all throughout this holiday season.
