We all love to have a good time over the Christmas period, but it’s a little too easy to get carried away and spend the weeks leading up to Christmas and right through to New Years in celebration mode.
Overindulging in excessive eating and drinking is not good for anyone, so instead this Christmas why not be proactive with our easy tips to avoid overindulging.
Regular exercise
Just because it’s the Christmas period doesn’t mean you should slack off and not excuse for weeks. While it will no doubt be a busy affair on the days like Christmas Day and Boxing Day, you should still be exercising regularly on the other days.
Exercise together
Make exercise fun by getting the family together and go for a bike or play a game of backyard cricket, beach volleyball or games in a pool. Even if the exercises over Christmas aren’t as intense as your usual workouts, as long as just keep moving.
Limit snacking
It’s not ok to snack on junk food all day long for the rest of the year, so you shouldn’t at Christmas time. Instead make up some healthier options to share with the family. Consider yummy snacks like carrots and celery, trail mix of raw nuts and fruit salad.
Don’t skip meals
It may seem like a good idea to skip a meal in preparation for a massive Christmas lunch or dinner, but if you are starving by that time, you will end up gorging yourself. Just eat normally through the day, starting with a nice healthy breakfast, and you’ll end up eating less for the day.
Healthy eating
It’s even more important over Christmas to keep up your regular intake of nutritional foods and be careful with your portion sizes. If you do have a big meal planned, make an extra effort to have healthy light meals for the rest of day, loaded with vegetables and fruit.
Healthier choices
There are some aspects of the Christmas meal you can’t get around like the ham and roast turkey, but you can serve your meals with healthy and fresh sides. Get creative with some yummy salad recipes and offer other fresh options like seafood and fruit. They’re more enjoyable in the summer heat anyway!
Keep hydrated
Dehydration is often mistaken for hunger. With the scorching heat over this Christmas period, it’s even more important to stay hydrated by drinking lots of water. Having a glass or two of water before a big meal is a great tip to prevent overeating.
Drink responsibly
If the Christmas period means enjoying alcoholic drinks with family and friends, keep in mind that with the hot weather it’s even easier to become intoxicated. Try to pace your drinking by alternating with a non-alcoholic drink, preferably with water.
Smart choices
Even better is to make smarter choices with your alcoholic drinks, like choosing the low carb or lower alcoholic options. If you are drinking spirits, you can also make smarter choices with your mixers. Instead of sipping on soft drink all day, consider diet soft drinks, soda water or mineral water.
Enjoy downtime
The Christmas time can be go, go, go for a lot of people, but you really should be factoring in some quiet days in amongst the days of entertaining and drinking. Organise some fun activities with the family like watching movies or playing board games and make sure you get some early nights.
The main point it to pace yourself, whether it’s in eating, drinking and late nights. It should all be about enjoying yourself, but doing so in moderation, and staying active throughout your break!
