By in Nutrition

Sail Through the Season

Xmas Food

It’s easy to stick to a healthy lifestyle in the summer: When it’s hot, salads, fresh smoothies, and grilled fish taste great and we spend a lot of time outdoors maybe, cycling, walking, swimming, and playing ball games. Winter is a different story: Salad and gazpacho do not appeal; instead we crave stodgy comfort foods and hot chocolate in front of the fire. The weather ruins all outdoor fun, and when it’s dark – as it seems to be all day long – it can be so much harder to find the energy for exercise.

As if that wasn’t enough, there’s the Christmas Party Season, which means most people feel that there is no point in even considering a saintly healthy lifestyle until at least January. Or is there?

You’ve been doing so well, felt great, got into an exercise routine, maybe even shedding a few pounds over the summer. Don’t allow Christmas to ruin it all! With a little bit of planning and foresight, this might become your healthiest Christmas yet – and your easiest to get “back on the track” afterwards.

Plan for it

At Christmas time we are often tempted to put our healthy eating and exercise plans on hold. It’s Christmas after all! We’ll be good in January again! We’ve all been there … and found that it can take until summer to get back on track after all.

One reason might be that we are giving us too much to do in January: quit smoking, quit alcohol, lose weight, exercise more, quit sugar … all very commendable goals, but are they achievable, all at the same time? We might be setting ourselves up to fail here, and then give up and let everything slide.

So, instead of just throwing all your good habits overboard for two months, why not schedule a few indulgences into your otherwise still healthy routine? Keep up your exercise routine and write your post-Christmas gym visit into your diary for December 27th right now.

You can have your cake and eat it, too

There is always the 80:20 rule, which is never more important than at Christmas time, when temptation is lurking everywhere. In a nutshell, it means that if you stick to your healthy, nutritious and delicious regime 80% of the time, you can afford to indulge 20% of the time. During December, you may just have to keep a closer eye on it. Don’t just think: “Oh, I’ve blown it now, I might as well …” Allowing yourself a little digression from the plan every now and again makes it easier to stick to your healthy regime overall in the long run.

Keep a food diary for just one month

It can be a little tedious to write down every morsel that passes your lips, but remember: It’s only for this month! Just keeping a food diary in itself can reduce the amount of sugary snacks and unhealthy choices we are making as it simply raises awareness. Once you start writing down what you are eating, every mince pie is there in black and white. At the end of the day, highlight in red all your unhealthy food choices that day (you know which ones they are). Then highlight in green all the healthy ones. Now make up for the mostly red days – presumably the Christmas party and holiday days – by mostly green ones on the days in between.

Pick out the best

You will have to make choices at Party Buffets and from restaurant menus more often than normal this month. As a rule of thumb: avoid battered, breaded, deep-fried and sugary foods as best you can. Go for the most natural-looking foods you can spot: meat, fish, seafood, cheese, vegetables, fruit, salads, nuts. If it’s not ‘beige’, it is your better option.

Is it worth it?

Ask yourself this question before you put a ‘treat’ into your mouth. Do you really want to put in an extra hour in the gym, or run another two miles to burn off the calories you’re about to consume? If it’s your Mum’s home made apple pie with cinnamon and raisins, then – yeah, it probably is! But if it is a sugar-coated pink donut from a packet then it probably isn’t. Put it down.

Hold the drink

We won’t bore you with all the good reasons to limit alcohol. You know all that. But consider this: Apart from piling on the calories, alcohol also weakens your resolve, and while you may have picked up the odd mini mozzarella and cherry tomato skewer early in the evening, you are more likely to reach for deep-fried samosas, crisps or chips after a few glasses. Those generously salted foods then make you thirstier and you fancy another glass of wine or beer … The day after, your head, waistline and wallet will thank you for sticking to white wine spritzers.

Melanie
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