SLIMMER AND HEALTHIER CREATING A SLIM, HEALTHY BODY FOR LIFE

Christmas Musings continued … Christmas brings together a unique set of circumstances for all those who want to lose their unwanted weight. The twin challenges of LOTS of tempting treat foods, together with all your loved ones who will look at you strangely if you don’t eat everything in sight. It may seem to you as if you have no choice but to throw all your good intentions out of the window. You reason that it’ll be too much trouble and cause too many arguments if you don’t follow the herd and eat as much as everyone else. And of course we are all such lovely people and we don’t want to offend or cause trouble by not overeating. Our good manners can be our own worst enemy. How can we float blissfully through the holiday season, enjoying the lovely food while remaining on course to become slimmer and healthier? The first point to keep at the front of the mind is … ENJOYMENT. You want to enjoy yourself and you want all your loved ones to enjoy themselves as well. In the past, enjoyment was inextricably linked with eating all that you wanted. But you should know that enjoyment and quantity are not necessarily the same thing. Your enjoyment of festive food is everything to do with how much you focus on it, how much time you give yourself to eat it and how much deliciousness you can extract from your meal. Therefore: No. 1: Eat less but enjoy it more. Choose the foods you really love and enjoy them. Avoid the foods that don’t get your senses on fire. Keep in mind the idea that your stomach is only the size of a large orange. As you eat in a more focused, meditative way, you’ll eat more slowly than your companions and it’s likely you’ll finish at the same time as them. Will they notice you’ve eaten less? Does it even matter? ***                                                                                                                                                                                          The second point is about honouring the wishes of others. If you are eating as a guest of somebody, you’ll be super-aware that you don’t want to offend or give the impression you are on a diet of any kind. Nobody wants to talk about dieting at Christmas. How do you navigate this minefield of manners and keep on track? No. 2: Plan ahead. But be flexible. Call the host or hostess and tell them you want to keep on track with your eating plan (or whatever you want to call it) and ask that your portions can be smaller- sized. Grandma or the younger children will likely be having a smaller portion, so why can’t you? Then ask if it’s possible to be discreet about this. You don’t want to be the main topic of conv- ersation at the dinner table.                                                                                           *** Snacks, treats, chocolates and candies, all these in-between meal diet-busters come out as soon as the meal is finished. This is an easy temptation to avoid because you don’t have to slump onto the sofa and be part of the crowd that is snacking. No. 3: There is a pile of washing up to be done, so go head and offer your help or join in and get a production line going. Offer to make the coffee or walk the dog. Is there a small child who needs to be amused? Simply take yourself out of the situation and do something else.                                                                                          *** I could write a whole book about Christmas strategies but this is only a blog, so I’ll wrap up in a minute (sorry for the pun). A final word about alcohol. It can ruin all your good intentions. Not only that but more alcohol than you usually drink will make you feel terrible by early evening or even before then. Remember other times when you had that extra glass of wine at lunch or agreed to a sneaky cocktail at 11am. Not a good idea. I knew someone who mistakenly drank so many glasses of wine while waiting for Christmas lunch (it was very late that year) that he actually fell asleep into his dinner plate, face first. He ended up in bed by 4pm, sleeping it all off. No. 4: Stick to one glass with your lunch, sipped slowly. Sorry. But imagine it is two glasses. See if you can enjoy your sipping so much … and make your wine or champagne last so long … that it seems as if you are drinking as much as you like. If you don’t like alcohol or prefer not to drink, you’ll feel clearheaded all day. With “Dry January” a popular way the begining the year (or the new decade) it may be time to work on your iron willpower and lose some extra pounds on the way. Back to main Blog page