8 Tips to Stay Healthy Over Christmas

DID YOU KNOW The average Aussie ‘over-indulger’ will gain an extra 1.1kg in weight over Christmas and reach for twice as many alcoholic drinks!!

Here are my top tips for staying healthy over Christmas:

1. Try to keep a healthy eating routine through the holiday period as much as possible. ... Remember: Christmas is only one day! If you stock up on lots of goodies for the Christmas/New Period, you’re setting yourself up for at least a month of indulging.

2. Drink smart. ... Space alcoholic drinks with non-alcoholic alternatives like soda or mineral water with fresh fruit. A beer or wine is equivalent to 200 calories which takes a FIT4LIFE workout to burn off! Consume wisely by drinking clear spirits with low cal mixers.

3. Do some additional exercise. ... Extra holidays can provide a great opportunity for some fun activity to help burn off those extra kilojoules – a walk around the streets to see the neighbourhood Christmas displays, backyard cricket, a swim.. or whatever you can get in!

4. Have healthy, fresh foods available. ... Such as stone fruits, berries, salad and seafood as long as it’s not battered and deep-fried. Grilling and barbecuing are the healthiest cooking options.

5. Limit portion size. ... Have smaller helpings of favourite foods and eat slowly. Don’t eat the whole pavlova now because there will always be pavlovas in the world! Be cautious about the size of drinks.

6. Take action before a Christmas party. ... If you’re going out for dinner, then have a lighter lunch or plan to do some extra exercise that day – or have a healthy snack (protein shake) to take the edge off hunger. At Christmas parties, stand a little away from the food table. Reach for a soda and fresh lime and rather than trying all the foods on offer at a party, choose a few favourites.

7. Share Christmas treats with others. ... Take the chocolates, candy canes, or bottles of wine you’ve been given to parties and share them. If your kids have a birthday around holiday events, use chocolates in lolly bags or to decorate cakes!

8. Beware of leftovers... If you’re the host, eating leftovers for days after your festive season bash can sabotage your healthy eating efforts. So offer leftovers to friends or neighbours or freeze for later. Don't take leftovers from your family unless they are healthier options like green salads, fruit salads, or protein - say no to the pasta and potato salads!

What if we do over-indulge? (as we of course will!)

Enjoy it! Try to avoid it becoming a full day or week or over-indulgence

A few extra biscuits doesn’t need to become the whole packet!

It’s not the couple of biscuits that does the damage, it’s the attitude that it’s ‘bad’ and you may as well give up and eat the lot that breaks the routine! So, have the extra biscuits and enjoy them, rather than letting a few cascade into way more than is enjoyable.

If you want to learn more about healthy habits for long term health and happiness, join my foundation membership 'Shifting to healthy habits' here: https://slhf.systeme.io/5b6271f8