Too busy shopping, finishing work and partying, many of us forgo the gym at this time of year. This makes the coming Winter all the harsher and those resolutions more unattainable. With a little forward thinking, it is possible to stick to your routine throughout the festive season.  Here are five tips from Samuel to help you get through Christmas and not destroy all your hard work.

1) Act now
Do not wait until next year to change. Do not wait until the end of the festivities or until everything is in place in your life, because it will never be perfect. There will always be something that gets in the way of your normal routine, be it a holiday, bills to pay or the stresses of a new job. Make a move now, be brave and honest to yourself. Get moving.

2) Get to grips with your emotional fitness
I spend a lot of time with my clients helping them understand what they really want and why. They need to have a reason to drive them, to help them follow through. Forced discipline never works in the long-term. You have to bring your body to an emotional state that will shift you from having to do something to wanting to do something.

3) Aim high
Set a really ambitious goal that will stimulate you and help create the willpower required to achieve that level of health and fitness. Whether you are training for a marathon or you want to lose weight, keep that goal in your mind at all times.

4) Plan around the parties

We have to be realistic about family and social commitments over the holidays, but that shouldn’t stop us from popping to the gym. Even if you drop a few sessions a week, the important thing is to keep up the momentum. It doesn’t matter how fast you keep moving as long as you keep going forward.

5) Make the good habits stick

There is a lot of debate over how long it takes to form a new habit. Is it 21 days? 30? It will depend on the person. However it will take patience. The important thing is to take one step at a time and avoid multi-tasking at all costs. Make sure you manage your energy not your time. Time at the gym is useless if you do not have the energy to workout properly.