5 steps to avoid the Christmas bulge

Rescu.com.au’s nutrition expert Zoe Bingley-Pullin has some tips to help you avoid over indulging even when faced with Christmas cake and champagne, but still leave you feeling like you haven’t missed the holiday buzz.

Zoe Bingley-Pullin

With the party season in full swing, it is easy to slip into the habit of overeating and over drinking. Sticking to a regimented eating plan can be hard when you have to attend a work Christmas party or a friend’s end-of-year drinks.

Here’s my top tips for enjoying the silly season without piling on the kilos:

1. Don’t starve yourself – Holiday times can easily be the time of overeating, but they can also be the time when people under eat so they can fit into their new bikini. This is very bad for your body and for your sanity. By restricting the amount you eat throughout the day you will slow your metabolic rates and when you do eat you will make rash decision because you are starving. The trick is to eat small meals or frequent snacks throughout the day. Try keeping a container of raw and unsalted nuts in your bag.

Filling up on nutritious, protein packed nuts

2. Eat before you go to a function – If you are under duress to attend functions throughout the week, a simple solution to pull your calorie consumption down is to eat a small protein based meal before you go out. Protein has the advantage of burning slowly so it will help to take the edge off your hunger and the alcohol. So when that tray of salmon roulade wafts by it won’t be your empty stomach making the decision.

3. Be healthy and creative with your cooking – If you’ve scored some time off over Christmas, use it as an excuse to spend a little more time in the kitchen experimenting with healthy recipes you might not usually have time to try. Chances are at this time of year you’ll have plenty of friends or relo’s around to act as taste testers.

4. Be selective on what events you go to – It is nice to be invited to as many special functions as possible but when you have eaten more spring rolls than vegetables, that is when you know you might be over doing it. Choose one special occasion and one work occasion to go to each week.

Snack healthy this party season

5. Keep it in perspective – Remember that holidays are meant to be a time of relaxing and chilling out. So if planning the Christmas lunch is proving to be a mammoth event ask everyone to bring a dish and keep it healthy overall by making suggestons for each.

Recipe for the party season:

Place a tin of chickpeas in a blender. Add 1 tsp of paprika, 1 tsp of cumin, 1 tbsp lemon juice and ½ tsp of honey. Blend together until smooth pasty. Grate a carrot and stir through the chickpea mixture. Served with vegetables or toasted whole grain bread. Healthy and creative!!

Travelling over the holiday season can be another challenge for healthy eating but it’s not impossible if you follow these tips:

Stock-up your hotel room with guilt-free fruit

• Always pre-order a low-calorie meal selection on the aeroplane

• Drink two litres of water before flying. Pre-hydration is your friend

• Try to only eat meat once a day this will keep your saturated fat content down

• Ask the concierge to direct you to the local supermarket and fruit store and if possible health food store so you can stock-up on healthy products

• Pre-order a daily fruit bowl for your room

• Keep your water consumption to two to three litres per day

• Consider booking an apartment with a self-contained kitchen. Preparing and eating a few meals in could be the difference between fitting into your jeans when you return home or not.

 
For more nutritional tips and tricks from Zoe, make sure to follow her blog on Rescu.