Over the festive period parties are as much of a certainty as mince pies and Christmas trees. Everyone likes to let their hair down and party after a long, hard year. However, too much partying can have negative implications on your fitness goals. It can leave you feeling tired and run down which consequently means that exercise and healthy eating take a back seat. That is why today I am going to provide you with five Christmas party survival tips. 1) MODERATE YOUR ALCOHOL INTAKE:- This may be one of the biggest clichés in Christmas party articles. However, my advice is slightly … [Read more...]
Merry Christmas from Free Fitness Tips
Hello Everyone. I'm just leaving a quick post to wish you all a Merry Christmas. This blog has grown a lot this year and that is down to the continued support of my readers. I hope you all have a wonderful day, enjoy spending time with your family and get to have a rest after a tough year. This month I have been writing about how you can keep your diet and fitness regime on track over the festive period. I started the month by writing about the common cold & the flu and then moved on to discuss whether vitamin C can help reduce your chances of contracting them. I then moved on to … [Read more...]
The Importance Of Getting Enough Vitamin D This Christmas
Vitamins are important nutrients that help your body function properly. They all have different roles to play and a deficiency of any one vitamin can lead to a number of nasty side effects. Whilst they are all equally important, vitamin D is perhaps even more important over Christmas. In this article I will be discussing why vitamin D is particularly important over the festive period and how you can make sure that you get enough. As I discussed in my previous article on vitamin D it is one of the fat soluble vitamins. The main role of vitamin D is to help the body absorb calcium and … [Read more...]
4 Top Tips For Improving Your Mood This Christmas
In my last few articles I have been discussing how our mood often suffers at Christmas. Not only do we have the stress of organising gatherings with family and friends, buying presents and the cold weather to deal with but we also have an increased chance of catching the common cold or the flu. On top of this research has shown that the lack of sunlight in the winter months can lead to a type of winter depression called Season Affective Disorder (SAD). However, it's not all doom and gloom. There are a number of things you can do to ensure your mood stays positive over the festive period. … [Read more...]
5 Outdoor Exercises You Can Do This Christmas
In my previous article I discussed 6 Christmas exercises that you can use to stay fit over the festive period. In that article I suggested that you join a gym, get some exercise DVDs or get a Wii fit so that you can exercise in an indoor environment that is warm and light. However, if you can brave the winter weather and the cold outdoors there is plenty of scope for exercising outside this Christmas. In this article I will be discussing five outdoor exercises that you can try over the holiday period (if you are brave enough). 1) GO SLEDDING:- As long as it snows then sledding is a great … [Read more...]
6 Christmas Exercise Ideas
As I have been discussing in some of my previous articles Christmas is a difficult time when it comes to fitness. Tempting foods are all around, the weather is generally poor and common colds and the flu are increasingly common. This makes it very difficult to maintain an exercise routine over Christmas. However, if you make proper plans then you should be able to maintain a proper exercise routine. In this article I will be providing you with 6 top tips for maintaining an exercise routine over Christmas. 1) EXERCISE IN THE GYM:- I personally exercise in the gym so this one is not a … [Read more...]
The Importance Of Getting Enough Sleep This Christmas
In the winter getting out of bed in the morning becomes decidedly trickier. Instead of waking up to clear blue skies and bright sunlight we often wake up to dark, cold, wet weather. However, it's not just the weather that makes us want to stay in bed. Research suggests that our circadian rhythms change over the winter months. In this article I will be discussing why you may feel like staying in bed all day over the Christmas period, what you can do to get yourself up bright and early and why quality sleep is so important at this time of year. As I mentioned above the urge to stay in bed … [Read more...]
Don’t let SAD Ruin Your Christmas
The holidays are meant to be a time of joy and happiness where people come together and enjoy the presence of family and friends. However, this is not the case for everyone. For some people the reduced daylight hours and the lack of sunlight actually cause them to develop a form of depression called Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). In this article I will be discussing SAD in greater detail and hopefully help you avoid the condition this Christmas. According to SADA, SAD affects approximately 7% of the UK population each year between the months of September and April. It is particularly … [Read more...]
The Common Cold & The Flu Explained
As we roll into December it just seems to get colder and colder (well over here in the UK at least). Generally, this is not a good time for people trying to follow a fitness regime. High calorie foods such as minced pies and Christmas sweets seem to be coming more and more abundant whilst the cold weather makes it increasingly difficult to get the motivation to do some exercise. On top of this winter and Christmas time seem to bring with them two unpleasant health ailments – the common cold and the flu (also known as influenza). Many people seem to confuse the symptoms of these two … [Read more...]