Over the festive season we all tend to over indulge, whether with food, drink or time spent crashed out on the sofa! Having a few treats over the festive period is completely acceptable, though often the case is that the treats amount to rather a lot!

The average person gains 2.2kg or 5lbs over the festive period, which just adds onto the potential New Year’s resolution list. You are more likely to achieve your fitness goals while sticking to a plan rather than ‘starting anew in January’. Keeping healthier whilst still having an exciting Christmas period is certainly achievable. Follow some of the tips below to keep your health in check this festive period!

Plan for over indulgence (be realistic)
By this I mean plan ahead for the events that you feel you will over indulge – have one or two events or meals where you let yourself go and take a ‘cheat meal’. Planning ahead means you have something to look forward to, meaning you can focus on your healthy diet on other occasions. If you are a very social person, consider eating a small meal (healthy) before your event, so you won’t be as hungry and less likely to over eat on less healthy foods.

Get exercising before the January rush!
People who keep exercising or start a fitness goal before the January resolutions tend to stick to it and are more likely to achieve it! Even if it’s going for some long family walks or hitting the dance floor at the work do, keep exercising and breaking a sweat through the Christmas period – try to be consistent. You won’t regret it come January when you’re ahead on your goals.

Use your smaller crockery
Funnily enough, choosing to use smaller plates during your main Christmas meals often limits the urge to eat too much. Often, we will fill the plate that is in front of us no matter how big – therefore using smaller plates reduces the amount of food. It’s not fool proof, but it has been shown to help when attempting not to over eat.

Just add water
If you find that over the Christmas period you gorge on too much food at meal times, try drinking water before your meal as well as sipping between mouthfuls. This in turn fills you up quicker, restricting the need to over eat. This can also be said for when drinking alcohol – try to drink a cup of water between alcoholic drinks to avoid over-consumption and a wobbly walk home!

Soup up your starter
Having soup as a starter similar to the above point has been shown to reduce hunger, reducing the amount eaten during the main course and possible pudding (which around Christmas is usually chocolatey!). Soup can also be made very healthy, especially making ones own where you can add as many vegetables as you like to add flavour. Thinner soups are better in this case.

Have breakfast & snack well
Skipping meals is a sure way to end up over indulging, especially over Christmas time, as there is so much temptation around! Always make sure to start the day well – get a good breakfast in, such as poached or scrambled eggs, or some oats if you have an active day ahead. If you do end up snacking around Christmas, try swapping bad snacks for good ones, such as good unsalted nuts like almonds and walnuts or swap your milk chocolate for a darker variety 70%+. Fruit salads are another winner for a sweeter snack or dessert!