Operation Christmas: ways to control your weight over the holidays
It seems as though we spend the entire year gearing ourselves up so that when Christmas arrives we can eat whatever we want. And then we stuff ourselves at feasts, eat Christmas sweets, drink alcohol… And everything we had achieved, is wasted.
In addition, the cold temperatures and shorter days make us become more sedentary and more likely to slip into minor depressions that can lead to food binges.
The other day we gave you some healthy recipes to try over Christmas, and today we’re going to tell you how to stay at a healthy weight during the holiday season.
Breakfast
Don’t skip it, you’ll feel less hungry at the end of the day.
Eat oatmeal, wholewheat bread, nuts, low-fat cold meats, fresh cheese, avocado, tuna or salmon. And, if these aren’t your thing, you can have yogurt or fruit.
Don’t stuff yourself
We are so looking forward to our holiday meals that we often serve ourselves three times more than we can eat. If we tend to do this, we should eat some fruit or vegetables beforehand. This will calm our ferocious appetite healthily, giving us fibre and water, and helping us to control the portions we eat afterwards.
Avoid snacking
Or do it as healthily as possible: fruit, yogurt, a cup of coffee or tea, a wholewheat sandwich with cold meat and fresh cheese.
Stay hydrated
In the colder weather we don’t feel the need to drink as much water, but it’s important to stay well hydrated. The holiday season means more drinking alcohol and eating sweets, which can be bad for our skin and our organism in general. We need to offset these effects by staying hydrated at all times. If you can’t stomach plain water, make yourself herbal teas to get yourself into the hydration habit.
Plan meals
At Christmas we usually have a menu, but sometimes the lifestyle we lead leaves us without the desire to cook and we end up resorting to junk food or the first thing we can find in the fridge. But if we have a varied menu prepared, it will be easier to do the shopping and cooking in our day to day. What’s more, this will help us keep a routine that will prevent gut flora imbalance.
Include seasonal fruits and veg in your holiday recipes
‘Tis the season of sweet potato and pumpkin, which are a wonderful accompaniment to any fish dish. And we can serve chard, spinach, leek, carrot or celery with legumes, or boiled in broth.
So now you know, enjoy your Christmas, but sensibly 😉