You NEED a plan!

The Christmas period and the run up to Christmas is a time for celebration and family. Unfortunately, it has become associated with eating an abundance of ‘the worst’ foods and drinking as much alcohol as physically possible. It’s as if we’ve come to accept that we’re going to put on 10 pounds during each holiday season and then complain like mad about it in January. Celebration doesn’t have to mean gluttonous eating but it also doesn’t have to mean deprivation either.

 

It’s time to bring the focus back to the purpose of the holiday and enjoy your friends and family and the time off. The holiday season might not be a time to lose weight, but it doesn’t have to be a time to completely lose your health.

 

Go into the holidays with a plan!

• Know what types of foods will be there and what you are going to choose to eat. Let’s face it; you generally know what types of foods are on the Christmas dinner table. Decide which foods are your favorite or important to you, and which you could do without. Choose your favorites and enjoy them but pass on those that you are not so bothered about – you don’t have to have a piece of Christmas pudding with brandy butter, cream & custard if you’re actually not that fussed about Christmas pudding and prefer the roast potatoes & yorkshires!

 

• Don’t go to the table telling people you’re “eating healthy this Christmas”. There’s no need to bring attention to your food choices. People will feel that you are not enjoying yourself, they’ll do their very best to try and lead you astray because they don’t want to be the only one eating like a complete pig! Plus your host might be disappointed if you’re not sampling everything they’ve slaved over in the kitchen. You’re more likely to have success if you keep your ‘eating in moderation’ attitude low-key.

 

• Fill your plate with vegetables. When dishing up your Christmas dinner, start with the vegetables – I bet you normally leave these to last & hardly have enough room for them…?! So by starting with veg you‘ll actually give yourself a larger portion of veg, then go for the turkey and then you’ll have less room for the roast potatoes and without even realising it you’ll give yourself one less potato and may not even have room for the THREE ‘pigs in blanket’ we pile on & TWO Yorkshire puddings this year!

 

• Snack on fruit. At Christmas we always have a big fruit bowl out on the coffee table at Christmas filled with delicious seasonal fruits like oranges, apples, satsumas and pears but for some reason people always bypass these & head straight for the Quality Street! Ok, I know why – we all love those naughty treats, but it doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy other foods as well. So… how about we can still eat the chocolates but we make a pact with ourselves… we have to eat 3 pieces of fruit first…? This way you won’t be so hungry for all those calorie dense foods but don’t have to completely deprive yourself.

 

• You don’t have to say yes to EVERYTHING! Christmas is actually only the 25^th December and perhaps you can include the 24^th and 26^th December as well as New Year ’s Eve – it’s not from 1^st December right through to the 10^th January! Seven weeks of continued terrible eating is only going to end in disaster for your health and waistline! You don’t need to pick at every tin of chocolates left on your desk or eat your way through every Christmas buffet. Choose wisely and carefully and have select days when you can eat what you want.

 

• If you’re cooking, try not to nibble throughout the day – all those little bites add up. Also, try some new healthier recipes; there’ll be lots of ‘festive recipes’ coming up on the Guaranteed Results Bootcamp Facebook page over the next few weeks so keep a look out. Use high quality, fresh ingredients and the foods will taste great. Just don’t tell your guests that they’re healthier until after they’ve already enjoyed them. We’re predetermined to think that healthy food can’t taste good but anyone who’s done one of our Bootcamp programs will know differently!

 

• Moderate your drinking because it most often leads to the worst choices. Alcohol will slow down your metabolism, make your body store fat and affect your good judgment. Try a wine spritzer instead of champagne or have a glass of water between each alcoholic drink. Just try to limit yourself so you can enjoy your holiday fully!

 

• Don’t go to a party on an empty stomach; have a healthy snack/meal before you go so when you get to the party you’re already satisfied and you’re less likely to eat all those ‘cheese on a stick’ snacks on the buffet table to attempt to satisfy your hunger.

 

• Don’t forget to actually move off the sofa! Take a walk before or after Christmas meals to get your metabolism going – it will also stop you falling asleep on the sofa and missing half the day too. Get active with the kids… new bike? Get out there with them, have fun and run around and burn some calories! Exercise actually decreases your cravings for all the wrong foods.

 

• If at first you don’t succeed, don’t give up entirely. Most of us tend to eat out of control after we give in to that initial temptation. Don’t assume that because you ate one piece of cake that you now have to try every type of cake on the table. Accept your choice, we all make the wrong ones occasionally and then move on and eat healthily at the very next meal. How you correct that ‘bad choice’ is more crucial to your success than making the bad choice. Just think… you can make one mistake and get straight back to your ‘healthier eating’ or you can make 3 mistakes every day for a week & then ‘start again on Monday’ …? What’s going to do the most damage and make you feel worse come January…?

 

• Control your stress levels – we often eat as a result of stress or emotions and then feel even worse for giving in to the temptation and that downward spiral begins. The holiday season can be a tiring, stressful time. Make sure you take time for relaxation and exercise so that you’re not prone to eating for stress management and comfort.

Overall, remember the meaning of the holidays and that they can be enjoyed without indulging in massive quantities of food and drink. Get plenty of nourishing foods in throughout the holiday season to make up for some of the not so good choices at parties. The key to overall health is to eat healthy overall. A few meals with less than healthy choices will not lead to your downfall. This year, make your focus on giving and not what you’re taking in.