Help Clients Stay Active Through the Winter Holidays

Post from the Weight-control Information Network

You’re probably working hard to help your clients keep up with exercise around the winter holidays. In a season of heavy holiday dinners, packed schedules, and rainy or snowy weather, these tips from the Weight-control Information Network (WIN) may help your clients get and stay active:

  • Make physical activity part of your holiday schedule. If it is tough to do 60 minutes of physical activity at once, you can break it up into 10-minute bursts of activity spread throughout the day.
  • Take a walk with family and friends around where you live to look at holiday displays. This helps you burn some calories and spend time with loved ones.
  • Invite a friend to be active with you. Working out with a friend or group may help you stay motivated.

Find more ideas in our brochures, booklets, fact sheets, and flyers, available at WIN’s Publications webpage. WIN is a national information service of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). We create science-based, culturally relevant content on physical activity, healthy eating, and weight control for health care providers, health educators, organizations, and individuals.

Here are some key reasons why you may find our content useful:

  • Our content follows the 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans and the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010.
  • We update our content regularly to reflect the latest research. With each update, scientists and health care providers also review our materials.
  • You can download, print, and copy our publications free of charge. You can also order up to 10 copies of many of them for free.
  • Our content is not copyrighted. If you do not change it, you may copy and use it freely. You also may use it in your own newsletters, social media accounts, or other communications. (If you make any changes, please remove the WIN, NIDDK, NIH, and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services logos and mention that the text is adapted from WIN, a program of the NIDDK and NIH. For more info, please refer to WIN’s Frequently Asked Questions webpage.)

Follow us on Facebook for our latest publication updates, tips, and news. We also have a monthly e-newsletter, the WIN Notes Update. Read issues and find out how to subscribe here.

We want to hear from you. How do you keep your clients motivated to stay active through the winter holidays?