Preventing the Festive Flab!

There is no reason why you cannot enjoy Christmas without feeling rubbish, threatening your health, piling on the pounds and shooting up 4 dress sizes!

Christmas isn’t all about abstaining, but remember, just because ‘tis the season to be jolly’, you don’t need to go berserk! So, with this in mind here’s to a truly healthy, happy Christmas!

Want to feel good? have bags of energy for dancing and partying?

What to do to keep away from the chocs and mince pies:-

Eat a High-fiber breakfast of soaked muesli or oat porridge to keep up blood sugar levels releasing energy slowly.
Ensure lot of vegetables or raw salads with lunch and dinner. If roasting vegetables, just use a light coating of olive oil and add flavour by sprinkling herbs such as thyme and rosemary over the top.
Make your own salad dressing : mix olive or flax oil with lemon or cider vinegar and wholegrain mustard.
Have Raw nuts, fresh and dried fruits and vegetable sticks with dips to snack on rather than turn to Christmas junk.
Buy Sugar free juices

AVOID FOODS THAT STRESS YOU OUT:

Stress stimulants: alcohol, coffee, tea, chocolate, salt, colas and cigarettes.
Relax with camomile or peppermint teas
Magnesium is a nerve relaxant and can be found in nuts, seeds, green veggies, bananas, avocados and wholegrains.
Eat small frequent meals to avoid blood sugar highs and lows
Take time to enjoy your food!
Take Walks between meals.

ANGELIC SNACKS

Nuts rather than Chips
Dates rather than chocolates
Raw vegetables with houmous rather than sausage rolls
Oat cakes with nut butter over cheese and biscuits
Natural yogurt rather than cream
Dried fruit instead of mince pies
Fruit cocktail over alcoholic punch
Roast chestnuts rather than stuffing
Dried apricots rather than Christmas cake

Don’t choose recipes for Diabetes or Heart disease!

Winter Berry Punch

350g frozen or wash fresh mixed berries, 600ml water, 2.5cm fresh root ginger, 4 cinnamon sticks

Put the berries in a saucepan and add the water. Peel and bruise the ginger, but leave it in one piece. Bring slowly to a simmer and continue simmering for 10 mins. Remove the ginger and strain the liquid through a sieve, pressing the fruit to extract all the juices. Serve with cinnamon ticks as stirrers.

The Worst Offenders…..

The most fattening foods contain fat and sugar and/or refined carbohydrates such as white flour.

Mince Pies – ingredients full of with trans-fatty acids – toxic to the body and difficult to break down.
Christmas Cake – full of sugar and fat
Buffet foods - full of saturated or processed fats (sausage rolls, cheese and biscuits etc)
Alcohol – the sugar content turns to fat easily – if it’s a creamy cocktail like baileys (fat & sugar) that’s twice as much!
Cheese – high in saturated fat with no fibre. Avoid biscuits - most are made from refined, white flour and sugar, salt and butter/margarine. Try wholemeal pitta or corn chips.
Crisps/Chips, Salted Nuts – saturated and processed fats, salt creates thirst and desire for more sugary soft drinks. Nuts are great – without the salt!

RECIPES FOR WEIGHT GAIN

Sitting in front of the tv surrounded by chocolates, chips and alcohol and sausage rolls. Breaks for large, high-fat meals, complete with alcohol to wash it all down.
Food and drink at Christmas tend to be calorie-dense but low in nutrients and food enzymes. These foods drain your energy, tire your liver and you gain weight. Cellulite is your Christmas Present!
Xmassy foods are usually rich and sugar so they create huge increase in blood sugar highs followed by rapid drops an hour or so later mood swings and cravings for more sugar is guaranteed.
Alcohol leads to a high followed by a low. It also depletes B vitamins needed for energy production, dehydrates the cells, slows the metabolism and gives you middle-age spread even before middle age!

This article is by Catherine Gurney, nutritional therapist. Visit her Website to find out more.