Smart Ways to Avoid Christmas Weight Gain

Tempting foods, family obligations, tiring parties, too much stress, endless shopping lists, overworked credit cards, oh, and don’t forget the weight gain.

Sound like your unwanted expectations for this Christmas season?

While you can’t make the tempting foods disappear, or the family obligations for that matter, you can control how much weight you gain, or lose, over the festive season. Follow these simple tips for avoiding weight gain and Christmas will feel like Christmas again - minus the extra kilos.

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• Think 90/10
• Don't go hungry
• It's okay to be hungry
• Don't use food to medicate yourself
• Activate
• Give your body a holiday
• Avoid portion distortion
• To keep on track, keep track
• Remember that tomorrow never comes

Think 90/10

Completely depriving yourself of treats – especially over Christmas – is a recipe for weight-control disaster. Would you sit a child in front of a huge pile of lollies only to tell her she couldn’t have any of it, not a single piece, and expect her to respond positively? Being around delicious foods and denying yourself any indulgence is not just unrealistic, it’s agonising.

During the Christmas period, aim to eat healthy food and stay within your calorie and fat goals approximately 80-90 percent of the time. The rest of the time, don't worry about what you should or should not eat. Enjoy a treat or two!

Don't go hungry

It’s lunchtime. Sandy has just finished a delicious grilled vegetable sandwich, a bottle of sparkling mineral water, an apricot yoghurt and a fresh fruit salad. She also had eggs on whole-grain toast for breakfast. Natalie had a cup of black coffee for breakfast, and an apple for lunch. Which one is more likely to snack on treats this afternoon?

Hunger makes you weak, in more ways than one. If you’re hungry, you lose your ability to make good choices. Your body and mind are on a mission to eat whatever is available, and with all those seasonal treats around, resisting is just that much harder. And weight gain is that much easier.

 “Don't go hungry” means eat regular meals and two planned snacks each day so that you don't get hungry. In order to reduce cravings, binges, and general overeating throughout the Christmas season, eat enough so that you don't get hungry.