- If you know you’re going to be drinking or going out to a party then opt for lower calorie dense drinks like dry wine, gin, rum or vodka with healthier mixers like cranberry juice, lemon and lime juice, sparkling water, tonic water etc.
- Before going out to a party make sure to eat a healthy balanced meal to reduce the desire to snack on salted nuts, crisps, processed meats.
- Stay active over the Christmas period. Structure your days so that if you know you’re going to eat a huge meal – that it’s after a workout. This will prevent unwanted weight gain which occurs sitting around watching TV eating chocolate and snacks.
- Play with the kids instead of watching films all day, go out for a long walk or go for a cycle.
- Keep the overindulgent days to a very minimum. The day you finish up at work, Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve. One or two days of real overeating won’t lead to much fat gain but a month of festive feeding will cause a huge increase in weight gain. Excess weight is gained slowly, not just from a day or two of overindulgence. Just eat sparingly the next day.
- When having Christmas dinner keep the gravy and sauces in a cup on the side and only use a few tablespoons.
- Stock the freezer with healthy meals rather than buying mince pies or frozen finger food. Make a homemade healthy lasagne or healthy vegetable soups and freeze them, buy lean turkey burgers or lean steak burgers which can easily be cooked in minutes. You could try our Market Butcher Range of tasty burgers which are high in protein.
- If you’re unsure what present you would like from Santa why not ask for a gym membership or take up personal training, to start the new year healthy.
Finally… and most importantly. Take the time to stop, relax and enjoy your holidays.