Today, the day after Thanksgiving, is the unofficial start to the holiday season. Turkey Day is just the beginning of a month-long crush of good tidings and joy, to be sure, but also boatloads (or maybe sleighloads?) of stress. There are the financial pressures of a consumer society, potential eruptions of old and new family grievances, not to mention the availability of too much spiked eggnog and New Year’s Eve champagne, plus an avalanche of cookies.
But there’s one thing that can help with pretty much every holiday woe: exercise. I know, I know, we’re not supposed to think about that until it’s New Year’s resolution time, but here’s a holiday challenge for you: Aim for consistent activity this month. A little something every day. Not convinced? Consider these four benefits of exercise this holiday season.
Benefit #1: Get a head start on making healthy habits automatic. Now, we’re used to thinking about exercise in January, when, according to a Nielsen survey, 37% of Americans resolve to “stay fit and healthy” while 32% resolve to lose some weight. That’s a lot of exercise-related resolutions.
But start this weekend and get way ahead of the pack. Most of us have heard the myth that it takes 21 days for a new habit to form. Oddly, this urban legend appears to have originated from a different kind of transformation: plastic surgery. Back in the 50s, it was found that people who went under the knife typically adjusted to their new appearance within 21 days, starting a decades-long game of telephone that somehow morphed from new noses to new habits.
More recent research has since found that it takes, on average, 66 days to solidify a new habit though of course it varies from person to person. But in general, round up a few days and call it an even 10 weeks. So start exercising a little bit every day now and by New Year’s Day, you’ll already be halfway there.
And it works—in a study in the International Journal of Obesity, participants were given ten concrete, defined tips to try to turn into habits, like not heaping food (except vegetables) on one’s plate, taking a break to be active for ten minutes out of every hour of sitting, and limiting fruit juice to one glass a day. After 32 weeks, those who had made the weight loss tips automatic had lost the most weight.
But best yet, for an investment of exercising a little bit every day for 66 days, you yield a healthy habit you don’t even have to think about ever again. Indeed, in an interview study with people who had achieved the holy grail of automatizing healthy habits, participants said the habits “wormed their way into your brain” and that they felt “quite strange” if they didn’t engage in their routine, which sounds suspiciously like the aftermath of an alien mind control invasion. Those must be some health-conscious aliens. But I digress.
Benefit #2: The Domino Effect. One healthy habit can jump-start a series of healthy habits, in an effect logically called the Domino Effect. So by making one consistent healthy decision every day this holiday season—the decision to exercise—you might find yourself making other healthy decisions unconsciously, like making fewer trips to the cookie jar or stopping after one hot buttered rum. Usually, controlling oneself at a holiday party buffet or open bar takes a lot of willpower, but with the Domino Effect, it may not take up nearly as much headspace.
Benefit #3: More of what you need, less of what you don’t. The holiday season is busy and stressful, and sometimes our sleep pays the price. Exercise reduces stress and improves sleep, and while neither of these benefits are breaking news, link them all and you can kill several birds (four calling birds?) with one stone. Think of it as a virtuous cycle: stress disrupts sleep, so by decreasing stress, exercise leads you to sleep more soundly. Feeling well-rested can, in turn, decrease stress levels in your waking hours. It’s a cycle you won’t want to get off.
Benefit #4: Good cheer. This is what the holidays are all about, right? A recent review study in the journal Depression and Anxiety found that improvements in positive affect (aka feeling more good) and reductions in negative affect (aka feeling less bad) start immediately after exercise and last for up to 4 hours. And you don’t have to have a long-established exercise habit to reap the benefits; indeed, the maximal benefits of exercise on mood come with your first few workouts.
What’s more, a nationally representative study of over 8,000 Americans found that the likelihood of having an anxiety disorder was significantly lower among those who exercised regularly. Now, that’s not to say exercise caused lower anxiety--it might be that people who aren’t anxious exercise more, so researchers are working to see which is the partridge and which is the pear tree.
In the meantime, a study out of the University of Sydney found that people who did have an anxiety disorder who were already in cognitive behavioral therapy had greater reductions in anxiety, depression, and stress if they also walked 150 minutes a week, compared to those who did therapy alone. So even if it’s unclear if exercise can be a stand-alone treatment for anxiety or depression, if you’re in therapy, it sure does add bang for your buck.
So start today—go for a walk after your Black Friday adventures, rake leaves until you break a sweat, or take a power walk around the neighborhood to see the first of the holiday lights. Rinse and repeat until New Year’s and you’ll make the upcoming holidays merrier and brighter.
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