Christmas without all the fluff! 

Yes! Christmas is nearly here. Now I don’t know about you but I still get SUPER EXCITED, even though it’s been 20 years since I found out that Santa doesn’t really exist!

Don’t you just love all that is associated with Christmas; family time, Quality streets, presents, mince pies, and cosy nights in watching films like Elf and Home Alone. On the downside it’s also a time of year when it’s easy to pile on the pounds and gain a ton of body fat – leaving you feeling tired, plump and fluffy around the edges!

Now first of all let me get one thing straight this post is not going to make you feel guilty for indulging over Christmas. I for one am going to drink plenty of Whiskey and fill my Christmas dinner plate until food spills over the sides! Instead of the guilt trip this post intends to help and educate you on how you can still have an amazing Crimbo but with gaining a ton of fluff! Let’s dive in with some tips…

Accept that you’re going to gain weight

Unless you are an athlete or some pro bodybuilder the likelihood is that you’re going to want to relax a little with food. With all the scrumptious temptations around It’s inevitable that  over Christmas you are likely to gain some weight. One of the best things you can do is… ACCEPT IT! When you accept rather than resist you make things much easier for yourself. Don’t beat yourself up for gaining weight, 99% of the country will be in the same position.

Enjoy yourself but don’t be A greedy git!

There’s a BIG difference between enjoying some treats and eating a full box of Quality Streets! haha I’ve done this myself many times, so don’t worry i’m not calling you out! Many of us view Christmas as a FULL BLOW OUT, some go crazy for a few days, others a week and others for the whole of December! The crazier you go the more guilt you’ll feel in January! Enjoy but don’t be greedy!

Sloooooooow Down and Take your time 

Typically when we eat we have a 10-20 minute window before we feel full. Maybe it’s just me but it seems that at Christmas we devour food like it’s going out of fashion! 10 minutes to see how much we can eat! Once I polished off 10 mince pies in one sitting – hey, just being honest 😉

When eating, slow down, take your time to eat and appreciate every mouthful. This is such a simple and easy to apply tip but just trust me…. watch how much less you eat. Make conversation at the dinner table to slow things down further and take your time to properly chew your food. You’ll eat less, enjoy your food more and your stomach/digestive system wont be doing cartwheels all night!

Increase output 

So now we’ve accepted that we’re going to consume more calories. More calories, means more fat storage right? So what do we need to do… increase output. If your at the gym you should increase your training volume i.e. do more sets and reps. I’d also recommend reducing your rest periods. If your not a gym goer then go for a long walk with the family. You could also increase output by playing fun, active family games like Twister, Charades and the Nintendo Wii (which can burn 300 calories per hr)

Pack your Christmas Dinner with Veggies 

Vegetables are full of fibre which will help your digestion (when your body needs it the most!), you’ll  also eat less, consume less calories and pack your body full of essential nutrients. Make-sure that at least one quarter of your plate is full of vegetables (the more the better!). It’s ok to ditch the brussel sprouts though (yuk! i still can’t stand them!) lol.

Thanks so much for reading, I really hope you enjoyed and learned a thing or two! Over the next few months i’ll be putting together loads of FREE content (videos and blogs) to help you further.

Finally, I’d just like to give you a high five for reading this post! I really take my hat off to those of you who are willing to invest time and effort into improving your lives. Make-sure to keep up the good work.

Until next time!

Nick