5 Ways To Stay Sexy & Sane This Christmas

Marissa Nieves, Fitness Expert for the December 28 Day Challenge shares some of her tips on how to get through the Christmas season in a healthy and fun way:
Have you noticed how many Christmas celebrations are centered around over-eating, drinking and sharing in unhealthy activities?
This year, let’s choose to celebrate the festive season with healthy practices. Choose to move your body rather than indulging in sedentary activities that could easily send you reaching for too many cocktails or cake. Create a brand new silly season that includes healthy, positive energy rather than old negative holiday patterns.
1. Throw a Day Party
If you’re planning seated celebrations over the festive season that usually take a slippery dip into sweet treats and egg nog, why not plan an active day out instead. It could be a bbq picnic in the park with a game of cricket, giant jenga, bean bag races or water balloon dodgeball in the backyard. A fun and different activity is the car scavenger hunt where teams split up into different vehicles and set out to complete specific tasks in a day or obtain certain items on a list. Being the season of giving, a great scavenger hunt could be to perform certain acts of kindness such as delivering goodies to those in need. The first team to complete all the tasks wins. A little imagination and some creativity can create a perfect day out, leaving you feeling even better than when you started with no after- headache or mess to clean up!
2. Indulge in Local Events
It is amazing what fun is often created in and around your local area as the silly season approaches. Check your local newspaper for festivals, arts and craft, outdoor live music, sporting events or street theatre. Find out what is going on in your area and schedule the events you would like to attend early to ensure you make the time to go. Get together with a group, take your bestie or round up the family. It’s amazing what is going on in local event calendars!
3. Relax and Unwind
Do you often feel caught up in the ‘rush’ of the herd during the festive season? What if just for one year you didn’t? Would you enjoy the season more? Instead of getting sucked into the last minute panic of things to do and running through lists as long as your news feed, why not choose to take some time out for yourself and your family. Take a walk and find a place that is free for relaxing. Take a rug and just hang out, chat, laugh and watch the sunset. Collect shells or rocks, toss a frisbee, go kayaking, write a letter, take a book or listen as the birds chirp, the waves crash or the river flows. All of these moments are memories that you will cherish after the silly season is over and the holidays will slow down, become less of a blur and you will have a lot more fun!
4. Try Something New
We all get stuck in the same habits sometimes and just by doing things a little differently, we can enjoy a wider variety of health and happiness! Learn a new DIY craft this Christmas or try a new raw dessert or fruit cocktail, like those in the December 28 Day Weight Loss Challenge, instead of the traditional sugar filled cakes and drinks. If you usually workout inside, choose to take it outside for the month of December. Do your Pilates on the grass instead of inside on your mat. Take your exercise routine to the beach or park and get the kids involved too! Choose to learn a new outdoor game or try a new sport at the park. By switching our regular activities up just a little, we can take a wider perspective, regain focus on our goals, keep our bodies moving and have a great deal of fun!
5. Forgive and Forget
If you find yourself indulging in less than optimum food and activities this Christmas, don’t let it get a hold on you for the whole season. It is only too easy to have one day of indulgence and then feel the whole healthy season is over and repeat. Not so! If you have a big day or night out, simply forgive, forget and let it go. If you didn’t workout for a whole day (or week!) never mind. You can always start again tomorrow. Just use your positive mindset to get up in the morning and start over. Every day as the sun sets, take a deep breath and give yourself a fresh start. With good intentions, good actions will follow.
Marissa Nieves, Fitness Expert