Welcome to this week’s Five from David
Your Christmas tips
Over the Christmas period, we look forward to the festivities, but don’t enjoy the side effects. On average (according to Nutrition Australia), we put on from 800 grams to 1 ½ kg that stays on every Christmas.
Some tips to surviving unscathed are to take a relaxed approach, try not to be too fixated around keeping on track with food. Any way to help reduce anxiety around our food habits while enjoying Christmas will go a long way, particularly helping us avoid the diet cycle (outlined below) that hammers our self-esteem. Make a conscious choice that is small and easy with your food, not unrealistic.
With your exercise, use it as an outlet for build up anxiety. Work off those extra calories we may consume, but this time of year is not the time you want to get into hard routines and long sessions. With a busy routine, reduce the length of time exercising and increase the intensity.
If you are like me, functions and gatherings can really bring you unstuck. As a host, don’t be fearful of serving healthier option food choices, there will be some guests who will really appreciate the thought. If you are at a function, take the conversations away from those tables of goodies. Out of habit when listening to people, you will do one of two things to keep your hands busy. The first is to scarify the nearest snack next to you or the second, to keep drinking the alcohol of choice you have.
With alcohol, three strategies can really help. Firstly, drink plenty of water before you go, it may be that you are thirsty, and this will stop you drinking fast. Secondly, if you are seated to eat, don’t have an alcohol while you dine. This may give your body a chance to become sated and reduce your urges to drink more. Lastly, have a healthy option to eat before you go, it may reduce that appetite.
The vicious diet cycle
Start a strict diet – crave the foods we miss – we break out and eat some – we berate ourselves for this – decide what the heck and binge on the foods – guilt and other emotions surface – we decide to purge the body – start a strict diet.
Your life tip
Give time to your friends as we go into this festive time. Enjoy their company.
This week’s wise words
“I am not a product of my circumstances, I am a product of my decisions.”
Stephen Covey
Have a great week and keep healthy in 2017. David.