With the Christmas party season upon us are you like me tempted with high calorie exciting foods and drink? How can we avoid falling into the trap of eating and drinking far too much at this festive period? We can become a bit of a party pooper and stay at home or we try to restrict our indulgence or why not increase the amount of physical activity and then go out and party – guilt free?
Recently I know people who have returned to exercise in December for exactly this reason. They can’t afford not to; they want to enjoy their Christmas parties. It is reported that, between early December and New Year, woman put on an average of between 5 & 10lbs. People can consume between 4,000 & 8,000 calories just on Christmas day. However, don’t despair there are lots of ways of reducing this figure. The BBC’s Good Food blog can do Christmas Day lunch for less than 2,500 calories. Not bad but let’s not forget the recommended daily allowance for men is 2,500 and women 2,000. Another way to feel good about the Christmas Day lunch is to incorporate some physical games to help burn up the calories. Games that have forfeits – try musical chairs – the person who is out has to do 10 sit ups or walk up and down the stairs 3 times. Think of some different physical activities to include in your fun games. Do allow your food to digest if you are going to get very active though. Probably the most popular activity at this time of year is a walk after lunch. Not only do you get to burn some calories but you take in some fresh air which makes us feel so good.