We only have a couple of weeks left in 2009 and those weeks will be jam-packed for many of us. With all the travel, parties, visitors, shopping and wrapping presents, will there be any time to exercise?

I'm sure you know my thoughts on that - there's always time to exercise. The trouble is keeping it a priority so you actually make time for it. A few tips that may help:

• Go early: You may not like 5 a.m. workouts but, getting in a morning routine will give you energy for the rest of the day.
• Go short: Got 10 minutes? Choose 10 high intensity exercises and do each for 1 minute for a timesaver workout. Some ideas: Jumping jacks, pushups, burpees, squats, lunges, dips, mountain climbers, jump rope, ski hops, squat jumps.
• Go family: If you're visiting family (or they're visiting you), taking walks or runs together is a great way to reconnect - and get out of the house for awhile.
• Go simple: If you can't do structured workouts, take advantage of opportunities to move - walking around the mall, playing Wii with the relatives, tossing a football in the backyard or, of course, the Holiday Arm Curl (i.e., bend the elbow to curl the drink towards the lips and extend the elbow to lower it back down).

This week, I'll be offering more ideas for how to keep some movement going, but I want to hear from you. What are your exercise plans over the holidays? Will you workout more or will you wing it and see what you can squeeze in? Do you have any tips for exercising over the holidays? Leave a comment and tell us about it.

Edited to add: The poll only works if you vote from the home page rather than the blog entry page and heck if I can figure out why. If you can't vote, leave a comment to tell us what you're doing over the holidays.

Pre-holiday preparation sometimes brings on a syndrome I like to call, Head Explosion Syndrome (as in, "If I have to think about, plan for, or do one more thing, my head will explode."). HES can strike in all areas of life, particularly our workouts. When you're already overwhelmed, facing a trip to the gym or a complicated workout involving multiple pieces of equipment may drive you over right over the edge.

That's one reason that body weight exercises can be a great choice for keeping you fit without needing a gym or special equipment.

The key is to choose exercises that are challenging, like pushups with side planks, around the world lunges and burpees. You can also take traditional exercises and use different techniques to add more challenge. Slowing things down (e.g., 8-count squats - take 8 counts on the way down and 8 to stand up) or adding power (e.g., add a jump to your squats or lunges) are just a couple of ways to add intensity to body weight movements, giving you a great way to exercise with no equipment needed.

What are your favorite body weight exercises and how can we incorporate them into our workouts? Leave a comment and give us some ideas so we can all avoid HES this year.

While I think it's a little too early to start shoveling snow (I know...let the annual winter-whining commence), it's actually an amazing calorie-burning activity. What once seemed like an innocent driveway suddenly becomes a vast and endless field of snow - all waiting for you and your trusty shovel (or your snow blower, if that's how you roll).

The only way to make shoveling my driveway tolerable is to think of it as a workout - the only real workout I'll engage in outside when the temperatures fall below freezing. If you've gotten way too much snow already this winter, below are a few snowy activities that may cheer you up (or at least help you burn some hibernation calories). The calorie counts are for 30 minutes of activity by a 150-lb person:

• Shoveling Snow: 205 calories
• Slamming your shovel repeatedly into the slab of ice that was once your driveway: 4 million calories
• Having a hot toddy after slamming your shovel repeatedly into the slab of ice that was once your driveway: -100 calories
• Building a Snowman: 140 calories
• Cross-Country Skiing: 306
• Downhill Skiing: 204 calories
• Snowshoeing: 272 calories
• Taking a stroll around the neighborhood to look for a snow blower to borrow: 112 calories
• Cleaning house for the holiday party: 100 calories

I'm a cold weather wimp, but there are plenty of you out there who can't wait for snowy winter sports. If you're one of them, leave a comment and tell us about your favorite winter activities. If you're like me, leave a comment and tell us how you make it through the winter when it's too cold to go outside.

More about how to make winter exercise easier.

When you think about health and fitness trends of the last 10 years, what stands out for you? Is it the sillier fads, like the comeback of the Master Cleanse diet, or the more innovative ideas, like the strange and exciting ability to walk imaginary tightropes or ride imaginary Segways for exercise? Overall, I found the past decade quite fascinating and I put together a few of my favorite health and fitness trends - the good, the bad and the ugly.

What do you think about the past 10 years when it comes to fitness and health? Does anything stand out as something that changed how you think or how you move? Tell us about your favorite health and fitness trends of the decade - maybe we missed something good!

More on Health and Fitness from the Last 10 Years

• Biggest Medical Breakthroughs of the Decade
• Health Issues We Weren't Thinking About 10 Years Ago
• Future Health Trends
• Overblown Health News of the Decade
• Celebrity Health Turnarounds of the Decade
• Patient Empowerment Trends of the Last Decade