My top festive season survival tips! And a delicious but healthy sweet treat recipe......

I usually find my clients have mixed feelings about this time of year. Hidden behind their excitement is a fear that there will be an inevitable weight gain and a need for a diet – or even Dry January – the moment the decorations go back in the box. What if you could avoid that? What if THIS YEAR were different?

Does it usually go like this? You’re committed to healthy eating over the festive season, and you go to buffet parties or events. The food looks delicious, but you are watching your weight, so your deprived mouth can only water. There’s a very subtle fear that you are never going to be able to have any of these delicious treats ever again. The fear of missing out activates your survival instinct to consume everything and anything. And so you go on a binge, and your healthy eating plans are obliterated. The self-recriminations start. 

Here’s the thing you need to know about FOMO (Fear of Missing Out): We are culturally programmed to over-value losses and under-value gains. So, we put more importance on the food we may be missing out on, and less on our goals and wellbeing.

The big question, of course, is what are you really missing out on? Nothing. OK, maybe some sweet or high-carb treats or some booze-filled evenings. But eating and drinking these have a flipside: blood sugar imbalance and energy crashes, poor sleep, almost certain weight gain (if you consume in excess) – and that’s without mentioning the negative self-talk for having over-indulged.

Here are my top tips for stopping that annual viscous cycle in its tracks!

1. HAVE A PLAN - Before you go to bed each night, plan out your food for the next day. This is never truer than at Christmas, when parties, chocolates, cookies and “treats” are just about everywhere.

2. DON’T TRY TO DIET - Set a maintenance goal instead. This is much more realistic, and it is achievable, even at this time of year. It will also give you the freedom to enjoy yourself without feeling deprived, or that you’ve failed, which in turn means you’re more likely to rebel (and this is code for heading straight for the box of chocolates without a second glance).

3. WATCH YOUR PORTION SIZES - especially when it comes to fast-release carbs like white potatoes, pastry, breaded items, cakes, biscuits and other sweet things.

4. DON’T GO TO A PARTY HUNGRY - If you do, you will be fighting a losing battle. Have a low-GL snack before you go – just a little something that includes protein and slow-release carbs (cottage cheese or unsweetened nut butter on an oatcake, for example).

5. KEEP FAMILY CHOCOLATES OUT OF SIGHT, so you’re not tempted to tuck in just because they’re there. Ever heard of the ‘see food and eat it’ diet?

But what I also hear from clients is, it’s not always the food that’s the problem – it’s the booze.

Often party-goers who are cautious about their alcohol consumption are viewed with suspicion.

If you want to have a few glasses of wine, have a few glasses of wine. But make that decision inside of what you know to be your social schedule over the entire Christmas period.

Look at your health goals alongside your social calendar and choose what you want to commit to. That’s choosing when you want to drink, roughly how much and when you want to not drink.

This year, how about YOU choose what you want to do and when you want to do it.

Here are a few suggestions for cutting down – if that’s what you choose to do

•Decide how much you are going to drink (maximum) before you go out.

•Consider telling someone else who will be there (friend or partner, perhaps) to help keep you accountable.

•Don’t feel pressurised by others. It’s your life, and you are the one who makes the decisions.

•Have an excuse ready when you want to give it a miss (remember ‘no, thanks, I’d rather have …’ is perfectly OK.)

As a rule, try to have more booze-free nights than not to allow your body to recover.

On those nights that you don’t drink at all, you’ll sleep better, wake feeling more refreshed, you’ll have much more energy, and your mood will be better. The impact on your waistline will be positive, too – alcohol is a major contributor to belly fat.

The best options, when it comes to alcohol, are all those non-creamy, non-sugary drinks. Pretty much in this order: prosecco or dry champagne, vodka and soda with a squeeze of lime (I have also tried this with gin – surprisingly nice!), dry white or dry rosé or red wine. Gin and tonic has a good amount of sugar thanks to the tonic. Things like dark rum, port, sherry, liqueurs, fruit juice-based cocktails and spirits with sugary mixers like Coke or lemonade are total sugar bombs (sorry if you are a fan of Bailey’s or Southern Comfort and Coke…). 

CHOCOLATE FRUIT & NUT CLUSTERS

The perfect low GL sweet treat packed with nutrients and low on sugar

Ingredients

• 100g dark chocolate (Go for one which has 75% or higher cocoa solids and will be lower in sugar)

• 15g dried cranberries

• 40g pecan nuts

• 5 Nairns rough oatcakes

• 2tsp xylitol

• 40g  flaked almonds

Method

1 Melt the chocolate in a glass bowl set in shallow water over a low heat

2 Blend all the ingredients except for the flaked almonds in a blender until roughly chopped

3 Add the mixture with the flaked almonds to the melted chocolate and coat through

4 Spoon into 10 – 12 cake cases

5 Chill in the fridge until set

Top tip! These are delicious and a favourite with kids. Get them involved in making them too. Ideal as a sweet treat following your festive meal instead of a heavy pudding. Or serve with tea / coffee later.

If you’re unable to break free from the endless cycle of yo- yo dieting, binge eating or constantly overeating come the new year, why not take your first step to enjoying life without worrying about food. Book yourself in for a complimentary call to discuss what’s going on for you and how I can help.

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