Christmas is incoming - what can we do?

By Cian Minihane

Christmas is well and truly in sight no!

It is the first Thursday in December and over the years I have found that this time of the year is when people tend to let their standards slip a bit. If you are someone who in the past has given yourself that free pass over Christmas, then you need to read this.

Be realistic with exercise: Christmas is super busy for us all. Work starts winding down, we’re getting presents sorted, meeting up with people (kind of!) and the madness intensifies. So, can you get as much exercise done as you did over the last year? Probably not, so scale it back to what you can sustain and don’t get overwhelmed. Even a walk is okay as it’s still being active.

Focus on a solid breakfast: Nail the first part of the day and the rest will follow. We eat out more, pick more, higher calorie foods and drink more over this period, so a decent breakfast is a must to get dialled in on. Higher protein options ensure you keep your protein levels up, leading to a feeling of fullness and satisfaction that lasts longer. During festive season, breakfast is probably the one meal where you have full control over yourself, so getting that set in stone is key.

Accept you will gain weight and you can not diet during Christmas. Eating out, drinking more, higher carb options and so on are always a given for us all at Christmas. You know this and so do I, so stop being so hard on yourself if you gain a little weight over this period as we all will.

Now that does not mean to just go mad and then tackle it in January; you can’t just go mad, but you must accept it will happen. Trying to diet over this period or lose weight is only setting you up for a fall which in turn will trigger you to then go to those comfort foods.

Creating self-awareness is key here, when to pull back and have self-control and when to push that ‘cop on’ button.

Christmas needs to be flexible, not a free pass as I mentioned. Allowing flexibility over this period will protect the progress you may have made or else stop/limit any further damage that could caused before we go into 2022.

Think over this; in December you need to be active when you can, control the foods you can; do not deprive yourself but implement self-control over the choices you make.