Festive FITNESS
CHRISTMAS IS FUN, festive and fabulous, but in the whirl of drinks, parties, shopping, wrapping and cooking, exercise can suddenly fall to the bottom of your priority list – and at a time you probably need it most!
For a start, it does wonders for your mental health. ‘Christmas can involve a lot of time spent indoors with family and being endlessly busy,’ says personal trainer and nutrition coach, Nicole Wright (edinburghruntours. com). ‘Setting time aside to exercise gives you much-needed headspace and the chance to regroup, so you can go back home calm and refreshed.’
And it’sshowed exercise may help counteract this effect. The study compared a group who overate by 50 per cent for a week and reduced their exercise, with a group who overate by even more and exercised each day. In the non-exercise group, there was a decline in blood sugar control and negative changes in the ways that genes involved in healthy metabolism expressed themselves. However, in the exercise group, it found that vigorous-intensity exercise counteracted most of these effects of short-term overeating.
