Christmas Is upon us, the parties have started, the chocolate calendars are well opened up, the sweets have appeared in the office and the pubs and bars are full of merriment. But this time of year doesn’t have to mean weight gain to equal father Christmas proportions.
Here are my top tips to having a relatively healthy Christmas:
Stay active this Christmas, keep your fitness routine if possible. Make use of the fact the gyms are empty at this time of year to speed through your workout in quick time with a pha or superset based workout (message me for details).
If you have parties to attend to then try to get to the gym or go for a run beforehand or at lunchtime to rev up your metabolism.
If you are away for Christmas or at relatives then try to incorporate some activities into your daily routine. You will have plenty of babysitters at hand for an hour while you hit the gym/ road or even home workout and possibly some relatives to rope in too!!
Go for daytime walks with friends or family, bike rides or even ice skating.
Play with the kids and their new toys, get outside and have some fun, you won’t need to ask them twice. Have a game of football in the garden perhaps? Or a snowball fight if you’re lucky enough to have snow.
Using a wii or xbox connect with motion control is good fun and gets you off the couch and moving around. You will soon work up a sweat as you are beaten into oblivion by your 7 year old nephew.
Dancing at the office party or even in your front room will burn calories, crank up the music and get granddad off the couch too!
But for most people overindulging at this time of year is the real culprit, with all those meals out, nibbles lying about and booze everywhere it’s difficult to resist.
Make sure you have 3 meals a day and especially a big breakfast, protein based and you will be less likely to pick at the nibbles during the day. Make sure that for your meals you load up on loads of healthy veg and protein, try and avoid the buttery sauces and fatty roasted veg.
If you are snacking make use of all the healthy cooked meat that is usually filling the fridge, turkey is one of the healthiest meats about and really filling too. Also keep hunger at bay with nuts and fruit too. Try to avoid chocolate (dark is better ) and pastries.
If you are going to a party with food, eat before you go. This will reduce your chances of demolishing the buffet if you get peckish. Or if you are eating out, try to look at the menu before you go and chose the healthy options, salads and soups and grilled meats and fish. Share a pudding with someone if you want to have a sweet!
Try not to drink too early, drink plenty of water too throughout the day and night.
Try to stick to spirits and wines, Beware of sugary fruit mixers with your spirits. Have soda, diet drinks or slimline tonic with your spirits and try to avoid creamy or sugary cocktails, make a wine go further and make it a spritzer.
Try a low calorie beer, you may be surprised!
A pint of continental lager is about 215 calories
A measure of spirit contains around 55 calories, but this doesn’t include calories from the mixer
A standard glass of dry white wine or red wine is about 115 calories, and sweet wine is about 165 calories
A creamy liqueur contains around 163 calories per 50ml serving, while the same amount of sherry or port contains around 60 calories a glass.
But overall, remember Christmas only comes but once a year and enjoy yourself. Don’t stress out as this will only lead to more over eating and drinking and if you do over consume then make sure that this New Year’s fitness resolution sticks…use a personal trainer!
Happy Christmas and a very fit new year
myfitnesspro – personal training in Epping, Theydon Bois, Loughton, Chigwell, Buckhurst Hill, Highams Park, Chingford, Woodford, South Woodford, Grange Hill, Woodford Bridge, Wanstead, Leytonstone, Walthamstow, Stratford, Bow, Mile End, Canary Wharf, Canning Town, Docklands, E1, E2, E3, E4, E5, E8, E9, E10, E11, E14, E15, E17, E18, IG7, IG8, IG9, IG10 and all areas in between