Ello,
Every December, the same thing happens:
You go home for Christmas, sleep in your childhood bedroom, eat whatever’s in arm’s reach, your mum won’t stop offering you sausage rolls and mince pies, and suddenly you’re acting like all your progress is impossible to maintain.
Listen.
Your fitness isn’t powered by your postcode.
Your routine isn’t that fragile.
It’s Christmas, not the gulag.
1. Your routine isn’t gone, it just needs a temporary remix
Your routine isn’t ruined.
It’s just not identical 🤷♂️
You can still:
Move your body
Eat like an adult
Drink water
Sleep properly
Not inhale 5,000 calories of beige buffet food “because it’s Christmas”
Your environment changed.
Your standards don’t have to 🤌
2. Travel days aren’t a free-for-all
A train station pastry is not mandatory.
Airport spoons is not compulsory.
A road-trip pick ’n’ mix is not a legal requirement.
🫙 Pack food in tupperware.
💧 Drink water.
🚶 Walk around when you can.
And if you DO have something off-plan?
Cool. It’s a snack, not a spiral.
3. Staying with family doesn’t mean eating like a child again
The second people go home for Christmas, they revert back to their 14-year-old selves:
Eating whatever’s in front of them
Drinking whatever’s offered
Not moving for 6 hours
Living off Quality Street and air
You’re an adult. You can:
Say “no thanks” without ruining Christmas
Ask for more protein with dinner
Go for a walk
Grab some fruit from the shop
Not eat a tub of pringles at 10pm
Your parents aren’t the food police. You’re in charge of what you eat 👀
4. No gym? Cry me a river, train anyway
“There's no gym near me 😔”
Ok?
You have:
Your bodyweight
The floor
Gravity
Stairs
A backpack
Resistance bands if you want to be extra
Do:
Push-ups
Split squats
Lunges
Glute bridges
Core
Burpees if you hate yourself
Walks, jogs, runs, hikes
Nobody’s asking you to PR your deadlift in your parents’ conservatory.
The goal is movement, not perfection.
5. Walk. Like. A. Human. 🚶
Christmas at home is basically:
Sit → Eat → Sit → Eat → Sit → Eat → Nap → Eat.
Get outside.
Get steps in.
Walk your childhood streets while judging everyone who peaked in secondary school.
Thanks to winter, sunlight is a limited resource. Get it while you can.
Your hunger, mood, sleep, digestion… all better when you move.
6. Aim for maintenance
December is NOT the time to:
Start your cut
Hit PBs every session
Lose 5kg
December is the time to:
Maintain your weight
Stay moving
Keep some structure
Avoid a 2-week binge
Enjoy time with family without writing off the month
If you come out of Christmas the same weight you went in, you’ve smashed it 💪
Do what you can.
Don’t take the piss.
Enjoy yourself.
Get back to normal after.
You can have a great Christmas and keep your progress 🙌
Stop catastrophising.
Start adulting.
Cheers,
Sheep 🐏