Along with nights out, the shop aisles are heaving with delicious rich, indulgent food, chocolates, wine, etc etc. Just begging to be eaten. And why shouldn't we? Don't we deserve a treat? It's Christmas after all, the season of overindulging!
I'm not going to tell you to avoid the treats, life is too short!
What I'm going to write about is how to enjoy Christmas, but try not to pile on the lbs, and spend the next three months trying to get back to our pre festivities weight. It is possible to have your treats, and keep the weight off .... so keep reading...
Here are some tips to keep us fit, healthy and slim over the festive season, whilst at the same time not having to resort to the food that only Rudolf really enjoys!
- In relation to treats, don't feel like you have to eat everything in sight. Only have something which you genuinely really like and will relish. Sometimes we tend to eat mindlessly, just because it is on the plate in front of us. When you are eating your treats, savour and enjoy every bite, really taste the food. But don't go back for seconds just because it is there in front of you. Don't eat just for the sake of it.
- On dinner nights out, fill up on healthy food before you head out. When you go out, avoid the bread basket!!
- When drinking alcohol, make every second drink a pint of water.
- Have smaller portions. If you are having desert, share with a friend, or just have a few bites then put it away.
- At home, instead of eating from the tin of roses, put a few in a separate container for you, and tell yourself that is your quota for the day / week. Just don't make it half the tin ! :)
- Eat slowly. It takes 20 minutes for our stomach to register it's full.
- Start each day with a healthy breakfast, e.g. porridge, eggs, fruit and yoghurt.
- Exercise every day. Even if it's just a 20 minute walk, getting out in the fresh air will do your body and mind the world of good!
- Lock the kitchen ! Just make sure to give the key to someone else in the house :)
- During the day, drink lots of water.
- If you do end up eating a tin of roses, mountain of pavlova, two bottles of wine etc... , don't beat yourself up over it. Just forget about it and move on!!! Just don't do it every day :)
- Weigh yourself when you get up tomorrow morning. And weigh yourself every few days over Christmas. I usually don't like the scales, but if we do see the numbers creep up, it might just put us off eating that 5th mince pie :(
- On Christmas day, don't overflow your plate. Fill your plate with lots of sprouts, carrots, turkey etc, and limit the stuffing, gravy and roast potatoes. At desert, have your trifle or whatever, but make it a small portion.
- Don't tell yourself "I've started so I may as well go on eating junk, what harm is another biscuit going to do". Remember, a calorie is a calorie. The more calories we eat and don't burn, will be stored as fat. So, one less biscuit means less calories that we will have to burn off!
Most importantly, enjoy the festive season!!! If you do fall off the rails, don't worry about it!!! It's not the end of the world and we will have all year to get fit and healthy again!
