Christmas is the time of the year when we most make an effort to get together and celebrate the relationships that constellate our life…family, friends, colleagues, neighbours…
In any culture and through the ages, any celebration of life has been marked by sharing food and drinks and Christmas is possibly the best example of this. Different countries and cultures have their own culinary expression of Christmas but what is in common is often the overindulgence in quantity of food and frequency of intake.
And whilst celebrating by sharing food is wonderfully bonding and enjoyable, exaggeration is not such a good idea for so many reasons… too much of anything and the magic of it is diluted and from a health prospective an overload of (any type of) food and alcohol has its clearly negative consequences …
A Christmas survival plan
Enjoying Christmas and the company of our loved ones and still maintaining the health commitments to ourselves can be done. The pure fact that you we will be spending time with the people we care for, is nourishing to our soul and our mental and physical health. All we need to add is some practical tricks to make the food extravaganza equally healthy ad nourishing
Few tips for you:
- Don’t set unrealistic expectations during the festive season…for most of us it is not a time to focus on weightloss, rather focus on maintenance of your current weight
- Be compassionate with yourself…it you overindulge one day, make sure that the next day you get back on track with healthy choices…don’t feel guilty, acknowledge what happened, don’t duel on it and move on
- Normal routines go out of the window, however, planning for healthy food shopping is a must. You will have days when you are rushing around and having the right food in your cupboards will keep you on the right track…stock on items that are ready and you can use to quickly assemble an easy and healthy meal ( soups, salmon, prawns, sardines, nuts, seeds, bags of salad leaves, pre-prepared vegs for stir fry, precooked lentils, quinoa, brown rice, beans, chickpeas, tofu …)
- Make good alcohol choices,
- Avoid beer, cider, cocktails…to much sugar going through your veins, Chose champagne, dry white wine and spirit on the rocks instead … If you want to mix spirit with a juice choose cherries, berries and pomegranate juices (pure juices with no added sugar, I recommend: active-edge.co.uk)
- Don’t go to a party hungry! Eat a snack before you leave the house, so you won’t be overloading on not so healthy foods.
- Move! Keep on moving … walk as much as you can, be a dancing queen or king …meet your friends for walking coffees…anything that keep your body active …let’s face it ..the gym is not a favourite at this time of the year !
- Keep well hydrated, especially when drinking alcohol…make a pact with a friend or your partner to remind each other’s at parties/dinners etc. to have one and one (one glass of alcohol and a glass of water)
- Repeat to yourself the following mantra:
“I honour my body; I choose and enjoy healthy eating”. You can have lots of fun AND honour your body at the same time, one is not exclusive of the other!
On Christmas day:
- Have breakfast! If you don’t, you might end up grazing till that turkey is on the table!
- Swap potatoes and parsnips with roasted butternut squash and new potatoes with the skin
- Have roasted onions as an accompanying veg (super low in glycaemic load and delicious)
- Discard the saturated fats from the juices by quick freezing the juices and spooning out the solidified fats, the meal will be lighter and easier to digest
- Have half of your plate covered with non-starchy vegs
- For your Christmas cheese plater choose cheese made with goad or sheep milk such as manchego, feta, pecorino and/or soft varieties; serve with oat or rye crackers, pears, apples, celery sticks, walnuts
- Turkey is your friend, don’t hold back, it’s low in fat and high in protein and very filling …no more space for unhealthy bits
- Try some of my low glycaemic recipes for delicious desserts by clicking on the picture below
Download the e-book by clicking on the picture below
I wish you a very joyful and healthy Christmas spent with the people you love and care for.
A special time to remember the past, to be grateful for all we have, to plan the future, to laugh together and hold each other tight.
Have fun AND honour your body,
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