So we’re now only a couple of weeks away from Christmas as celebrations, parties, catch ups are in full swing. Chances are the Christmas Eating probably started around a fortnight ago but as things step up you inevitably end up more and more tempted over the coming days.
If you’re trying to lose weight this can feel like a tricky time of the year. On the one hand you want to join in but in the other you don’t want to undo the work you’ve put in already. So how do you tackle food at Christmas?
You could:
– Stick to your normal eating habits and say no to everything until the big day. Bit dull but you’ll stay in track
– Say yes to everything, fuck it until January. You’ll probably see some weight gain but you’ll have fun
– Have the odd day / night ‘off’ but eating normally the rest of the time
– Manipulate your calories do you can enjoy food but stay within your calorie target – perhaps skipping breakfast if you’re out later or having more low calorie but filling foods (veg) to allow you to save calories for later. You could even use your calories over a week and have lower calorie data
Me? I’m a mixture I suppose. I’m still meal prepping and keeping an eye on what I eat but I’m also grazing on the endless shortbread supply at work and last night had two of each courses (yep it was a three course meal) at the work do (I’ll be honest there were 3 more spare deserts left on my table but I thought 5 deserts might be excessive). I’m taking the view that if I eat my normal food I’ll maybe eat less Christmas food overall but I also don’t feel like I’m missing out on anything.
How you approach Christmas food is going to depend on how keen you are to reach a goal in a certain time or how much you enjoy all the food that comes with Christmas. There’s no right or wrong way of approaching it as long as you know what effect your choice will have on your diet and are happy with that decision.
Heather Sherwood Fitness 