It can be so tempting to eat everything within sight over Christmas and New Year. People bake more; there are parties and meals out, buffets and lots of alcohol. You will be surrounded by your favourite things to eat and drink and there is no reason why you should treat yourself. But, at the same time, you probably don’t want to start the New Year feeling guilty about the 10lbs you put on and worrying about trying to shift it. Follow the tips below and you should still be able to enjoy yourself, eat and drink the things you like (in moderation) and not have damaged your health because of it. Most importantly, Christmas is a time to spend with the people you love and enjoying yourself. Happy Christmas

 

1) Portion Control: I personally think this is the most important one. I don’t deny myself of anything over Christmas. I work really hard all year to maintain the weight I have lost, and whilst I do still treat myself throughout the year, I am generally pretty strict. But, for a few days over Christmas, I let myself have what I am craving, but I don’t let myself have loads of it. If I am craving a whole chocolate cake, I’m not going to eat all of it, but I will allow myself a slice. I am so looking forward to a traditional roast dinner on Christmas day this year, after 9 years of being a vegetarian, but it is just like any other meal. I don’t need to have 2 portions worth on my plate and then go back for seconds. Your stomach is not designed to hold that much food, and you know half an hour later when you have managed to roll yourself onto the sofa, you are going to regret that 3^rd Yorkshire pudding. Keeping your eye on your portions can mean you don’t need to deprive yourself of anything, but you are not going over the top either. I might also be a good idea to keep in mind that your plate should ideally be filled with 40% lean protein (that’s your turkey), 40% complex carbs (your vegetables) and 20% fats.

 

2) Don’t skip your workouts: Christmas Day is just one day, not 4 weeks. That means that you don’t need to stop your usual healthy eating and exercise routine as soon as you break the advent calendar out. Try, as much as you can, to still eat a healthy breakfast and schedule in your workouts. You might not feel like it, or have time, on Christmas Day to work out, but whilst I am not saying you should head to the gym (are they even open), a nice walk after your massive dinner will do wonders. Not only will you burn a few calories (a potatoes worth maybe), it will help aid digestion and build up an appetite for dessert. Another great way to get in some exercise on Christmas Day is playing. If you have kids and they got a new toy, burn some energy playing with them. Did you get a new game on the Wii or Xbox? If it is something like Just Dance, get the whole family involved, burn some calories and have some fun. Perhaps wait until dinner has gone digested first. If you are lucky enough to have snow this Christmas (no white Christmas for us here), then  go outside and have a snowball fight, or roll around in the snow. You don’t need to take an hour out of your day to exercise, just 20 minutes, and make it a fun activity. But the most important thing, is sticking to your workouts on all the days surrounding Christmas Day. Write them down in your diary so you can’t forget. If you really want to offset the extra Christmas calories, add an extra 10 minutes of cardio onto your daily routine.

 

3) Keep track: I’m not suggesting you should be attached to a notepad and obsess over everything that you are eating and their calories(that’s not good at anytime), but it is a good idea to keep a mental note of roughly how many calories you are consuming over Christmas. I personally don’t advise writing everything down, as it my experience, that can lead to problems with obsessing over what you eat. But, I do still think it is a good idea to be generally aware of the amount you are eating, rather than the number of calories. Most of us are going to go over our daily allowance, that is a given, but it is so easy to go WAY over without even realising. It might only seem like 3 truffles, a couple of biscuits, a handful of crisps, a mince pie and a box of chocolates is a light snack at Christmas time, but you could have 2 meals for that same calories as you would have consumed. Being aware of just how much you are eating might make you think twice about opening that second box of chocolates or eating all of the left over roast potatoes, just because they are they. Also, I find it helpful to not have food just lying around. If it is there, I will eat it.

 

4) Don’t go anywhere hungry: Still have Christmas shopping to do? Pack a small bag of nuts and seeds and a piece of fruit in your bag when you go shopping. This will stop you going to the food court and eating something overpriced and most likely not very nice. Also, don’t do your Christmas food shopping when you are hungry. This is a good tip when doing your usual weekly shop, but it is especially important when doing the big Christmas food shop, as there will be as much temptation as it is. All the brightly coloured packages and festive smells will lead you to fill up 2 trolleys full of stuff you don’t really need. After all, Christmas dinner is just a big roast dinner.

Still have Christmas parties to go to? Well, aren’t you popular!! If you know there is going to be a huge and calorific buffet when you get there, try to eat before you go. That way you won’t want to eat everything you see and you can just have a few canapés

 

5) Eat Slowly: Again, good advice generally, but especially important at Christmas when there is so much food around. Chewing slowly will not only allow you to savour every bite of that delicious meal you have spent hours cooking, but it will also allow your brain time to catch up and register when you are actually full, instead of you continuing to eat for 30 minutes after that point, until you feel ill.

 

6) Drink sensibly: Mulled wine, Baileys, sugary cocktails and hot chocolate topped with whipped cream. Some of mine, and I’m sure yours, favourite festive drinks. Drinks like these are packed with calories, but your brain doesn’t really register them, as you are drinking them. This can lead you to easily have your daily calorie allowance just from drinks. Your best bet is to either limit your drink intake, or make better choices (even better, do both). If you are really craving that creamy Baileys, then have it, but just one and make your other drinks something like vodka and soda. Remember to drink a glass of water for every alcoholic drink you have.  Drinking too much can mean you make some bad food choices, so try keeping it to a minimum.

If hot chocolate if your festive drink of choice, choosing skimmed milk and skipping the whipped cream and mean you could have a small bit of cake instead.

 

7) Plan Ahead: If you know what you are going to be eating over the Christmas period, then it is easier to make the right choices. Obviously this is going to be difficult sometimes, as you will most likely be eating at someone else’s house at some point. When you know you are going to be at home, plan your meals, otherwise it will be too easy to just grab the leftover party food or reach for the chocolates and class it a meal. Planning ahead will also mean you know when there is going to be extra temptation and you can compensate by working out a little extra or avoid that mince pie you were thinking of having straight after breakfast.

 

Make the most of the super foods that you will be surrounded by over Christmas: The main one will be turkey. It is a healthy protein source, it is full of vitamins and you only need to eat a little bit of it to feel full. And what is Turkey’s best friend? Cranberries of course! Not only the perfect partner to your turkey, but they are full of antioxidants and they lower bad cholesterol.  Try to make your own, and lower the sugar though. Spices like nutmeg and cinnamon are heavily featured in festive food. Make the most of them. Take a look at last week’s Friday Favourite for the benefits of cinnamon.

 

9) Keep lots of healthy stuff round the house: Just because there are treats on every aisle of the supermarket, doesn’t mean you have to replace your usual healthy foods with giant cookies and sausage rolls. Still keep a bowl of fruit around and try to stick to snacking on nuts and seeds. Even better, up your fruit and vegetable intake over the festive period.

 

10) Be Realistic: It is important to accept that you are most likely going to be treating yourself a little more than usual, and if you are trying to lose weight, it might not happen the week over Christmas. But then again, it might. Some of your might be staying completely on track over Christmas. For most, I think it is important to just focus on maintaining. If you lose, great, but just try not to over indulge and gain a lot. If your goal is usually to lose 2lbs a week, try setting new goals for the week over Christmas, like extra fruit and veg, or 20 minutes extra cardio.

 

11)  Contribute: If you are going to someone else’s house for dinner party, or Christmas dinner, offer to take a dish with you. That way, you know what is in it, and you can make some healthier changes to it too.

 

12)  Don’t let it get you down: I think this one is really important too. So what, you ate a giant bit of cake. You are only human. Enjoy the cake and move on and make good choices for the rest of the day. You can also do some extra cardio the next day. Food is there to be enjoyed, in moderation, not to feel guilty about.