It’s time for this year’s edition of the 12 Days of Fitmas Workout! It’s a total body workout that’s in the format of “The 12 Days of Christmas” song. It’s super fun to do with your kids, family, and friends … or even as a challenge for yourself.
Staying active during the holidays is SO IMPORTANT. It can help you:
- Feel energized
- Improve your sleep
- Burn off some calories and
- Even boost your immune system.
Here’s how “The 12 Days of Fitmas Challenge” works:
There are 12 rounds … and every round, you add a new exercise that corresponds to the day it represents in the song.
So, for round 1, you would do 1 burpee. In round 2, you would do 2 lunges (each side) + 1 burpee. Round 3 would be 3 push-ups + 2 lunges (each side) + 1 burpee… all the way to round 12, where you would do the whole thing from day 12 through day 1.
Here we go …
12 Days of Fitmas Workout
Warm-up with 5-10 minutes of light cardio – walking in place, treadmill, etc., and light stretches (leg swings, arm circles, etc.)
(Click each exercise to see a demo of the move)
- 1 Burpee
- 2 Lunges (each side)
- 3 Push-ups
- 4 Side lunges (each side)
- 5 Mountain climbers (each side)
- 6 High knees (or march in place) (each side)
- 7 Bench (or couch!) Dips
- 8 Butt Kickers (each side)
- 9 Plank Jacks (in a plank position, jump/step your legs out to the side, then back to the center)
- 10 Air Squats
- 11 Jumping Jacks
- 12 Side Plank Hip Lifts (each side)
Be sure to cool down to bring your heart rate down, and then do some light stretching.
You’ll feel GREAT after you are done with this workout!
This fad doesn’t work
Heads up, I’ve got some controversial news for you today – but hang with me! “Moderation” is one of the biggest buzzwords in wellness right now. But guess what? It doesn’t work …Because almost everyone does it wrong. The fact is, what looks like “moderation” to one person might be something completely different for someone else. For food, your definition of “moderate” can depend on what you grew up eating, your current eating habits, or even your mood.
Are you a stress eater? Or meal skipper?
If you’ve ever had a stressful day (or year!) that affected your eating habits, you are NOT alone. In a study, more than 75% of adults said that stress played a role in their eating during the past month. This included overeating, eating junk foods, or not eating. Many of them said it happened weekly. They also said it made them feel sluggish, lazy, disappointed in themselves, and/or irritable.
Your 4 Pillars
Last week I posted about jumping off the health/fitness/weight loss/etc. rollercoaster and finding a plan that works for YOU and your life! Doesn’t it just feel good when you get into a groove that you can actually stick with? (If you haven’t yet, hang with me, I’ve got a helpful tip for you below.) It’s a little mindset/organizing hack … And it’s something to think about when you get sidetracked, overwhelmed, or aren’t sure what to do next.
When you’re tired of feeling tired
Have you ever been here before? Something sparked you to set a new fitness goal that you were REALLY excited about. Maybe you stepped on the scale after the holidays, had a big event coming up (reunion, wedding, vacation, etc.), were unhappy with the results from your latest doctor’s visit, watched an inspiring movie, were wowed by someone else’s transformation, or even had some kind of wake-up call…
