With the ‘silly season’ now upon us it seems the perfect time to stop and have a think about ways to keep the Christmas indulgence balanced to ensure our thighs don’t end up looking like the Christmas Ham.
If you are anything like me you will have many pressing social engagements over the coming weeks. All involving an abundance of food, drinks and of course merriment (aka: egg nog). be it work Christmas parties, mother’s group parties, family parties, friends, more family, and of course the big day itself.
The one day of the year where we seem to think it socially acceptable to eat until we are literally bursting out of our pants. The day where Uncle Herbert proceeds to undo his belt buckle and allow the button and zip from his jeans to slowly unfurl (or pop right off) to allow for the second helping of Christmas pudding and Aunt Ethel's trifle. Even worse someone in the family inevitably wears elastic waisted pants specifically allowing for easy stretching after a lunch AND dinner of pure indulgence.
Last Christmas I actually managed to jog 7 kms in between lunch and dinner. However, I then knowingly proceeded to eat every inch of food insight and completely make redundant my earlier efforts. In hindsight I would have been much better placed simply skipping the jog and reducing the quantity of food on my plate!
So, how do we avoid the extra Christmas kilos this year? Well, sadly my only answers are the same as usual. Move more and eat less. If your family is likely to have a vast array of mouth-watering-yet-weight-increasing-snacks on offer before the turkey makes an appearance, how about taking along a healthy fruit platter to share.
I am always bemused to see that the platters with celery, carrot sticks, humus, dried fruit and nuts, grapes, cherries and a variety of other low fat snack items seem to be the first off the plate.
If I were to give you my top 5 Christmas day tips they would be:
1: Start the day with a healthy, filling breakfast. I know some families start Christmas day with brunch. If this is you, consider indulging in summer fruits, healthy sea food, freshly squeezed juices, summer muesli's and yogurts mixed with seasonal berries. (NB: A glass of champagne is of course a must).
2: Take a 2 litre bottle of water with you. Christmas in Oz is hot of course and mostly always involves sun and champagne. If nothing else, your water will at best keep the hangover at bay till after 5pm!
3: Take the skin off! Not the quintessential sunburn we Aussies are so prone too – but rather, the skin off your bird. Chicken, turkey and pork are all meats high in protein. Whilst I too lament the skin is often the tastiest part, it’s also the part laden with fat and guaranteed to increase the size of my thighs! Over Christmas think about taking the skin off your meat and adding a teaspoon of home made apple sauce for some extra flavour!
4: Have a Christmas day stroll instead of an after lunch nap! For as long as I can recall my folks would have an afternoon nap in between lunch and dinner. Perhaps it was to recharge their batteries before the partying (eating) continued, or perhaps it was a direct result of the bodies exhausted efforts at digesting a days worth of food consumed in one hour!
It is often the case that when one feels full, they will also feel lethargy. So, how about this year rather than having a nap – take a walk. A gentle stroll around the block will give your body a chance to digest the ice-cream and trifle and give you a nice energy boost from the increased heart rate and blood flow! Hey, if nothing else you’ll be prepped for round 2.
5: Last but not least – put your party frock on and boogie! Christmas is a celebration and celebrations in my book are worth donning your pretty dress and fancy heels and reflecting on all the year has been. Laugh with your friends and family, enjoy good food and drink. And, if you do over-indulge - make sure you enjoy it - you can always work it off later :o)
Happy Christmas Season guys :)
2021 Review Thingo
2 years ago
