Staying trim during the festive season

HOLD on to your hat. The festive roller-coaster is about to whisk you away on a bone-rattling ride through a calorific minefield spiked with more random acts of over-indulgence than you can shake a stick at.

Mince pies and party drinks here, nibbles and a tasty morsel there. It all adds up before you ever get to Christmas Day itself when the average holiday-maker will put away about three times the daily norm.

And sure what harm, you say. It’s cold outside and it’s Christmas. And yet, how many times have you skidded into January with a profit-and-loss sheet that looked a little like this? Losses: money and sanity. Gains: weight and self-loathing.

If it is any comfort, you are not alone.

We’ll spend a staggering €528m on food and drink this Christmas, up 3.6% from 2013, according to a web loyalty survey.

That works out at about €340 on food and drink per family and a further €228 on socialising, according to further research by Aviva Home Insurance.

It is interesting to note, too, that most of us rate as essential, boxes of chocolates, biscuits and festive drinks such as Baileys.

As for weight gain, estimates vary— 2lbs to 7lbs — but we’ll eat about 600 extra calories a day. And 600 calories doesn’t really look like that much.

“It’s a few drinks,” says consultant dietician Aveen Bannon, “or a couple of canapés at a party, or maybe a take-away on the way home after a night out.”

It doesn’t help that the festive season seems to have extended in both directions: it starts earlier and finishes later.

However, that does not mean you can’t enjoy every single moment of it. You can come out the other side of Christmas in one same-sized piece — or, if you squeeze in extra daily exercise, who knows, maybe even a few pounds lighter.

The first step is to be realistic. This is not the time of year to do pre-party juice detoxes. In fact, says Aveen Bannon, juice detoxes are bad at any time of year as dramatic diet changes play havoc with your metabolism.

“Trying to lose weight at this time of year is both unrealistic and socially unpleasant — food and tempting treats are everywhere. Instead, aim for weight stabilisation.”

If you make a few small changes that shouldn’t be too difficult. The first weapon in your Christmas survival arsenal is water.

“We are not great at hydrating especially when it is cold, but it is so important,” Bannon says.

Water keeps you hydrated, stops you overloading on food, offsets the salt and sugar that are in most festive goodies and helps calm hangovers. In short, an all-round star performer.

Vegetables are another key player in the festive survival kit.

Eating a variety of vegetables at every meal will help you to fill up on high-fibre, nutritious foods. It won’t be so hard, then, to decline when the plate of mince pies comes round for the third time. Have a range of handy phrases on the tip of your tongue, says Bannon: “It looks delicious, but I’m full”, “I’ve already had one, thank you”, “I’ll try one in a minute” and smile right back.

In fact, mental preparation is half the battle when it comes to negotiating December’s merry-go-round of invites, parties and family get-togethers.

For instance, on Christmas Day itself, decide to eat a little more slowly so that you won’t hoover up everything on your plate.

“Wait before going for a second helping,” Bannon says. “It takes about 15 to 20 minutes for your stomach to tell your brain it’s full. You’ll need to eat slowly to notice the signals that your stomach is sending to your brain.”

And then tell your brain to relax. Don’t let it beat you up for eating so-called forbidden food.

Some foods have been cast into the sin bin and labelled ‘wicked treats’ but Bannon thinks that is not a healthy way to think about food.

“We should get away from the all-or-nothing approach to food. People talk about having ‘cheat’ days but that feeds into the notion that food is good and bad. Food is not black and white. I encourage people into the grey areas,” she says.That can be hard in a world that glorifies skinny celebrities yet fills the shelves of the more rotund masses with two-for-one deals on tins of chocolate and monster packs of biscuits.

Assumpta Dunne, a nutritionist on a health programme that targets the dangerous fat that accumulates around the middle, warns against so-called food bargains at this time of year.

It’s not value for money if it ends up on your tummy or thighs, she says, adding that it helps to think that ‘buy one, get one free’ spells ‘bog off’! And that is what we should be saying — in the politest possible way, of course — to seeming bargains.

It helps, too, to be mindful about what you eat, she says.

Treating alcohol as a course is a good first step. It will also help to skip the bread, put the sauce on the side and think about sharing a dessert, she adds.Nutritionist Heather Leeson says nobody wants to be miserable at this time of year. It is the season to have what you love and savour every mouthful.

“However,” she adds, “if you have everything that is on offer, you will face into a miserable January. Choose what you like, enjoy it and then put it away. All the studies show that we will eat food if it is there. So when you are finished, put the leftover mince pies in the freezer.”

And decide to do so. Because most of the decisions we make about food — a startling 250 daily — are made without really thinking, according to the author of Mindless Eating Brian Wansink.

Really thinking about how and what you eat can make a huge difference to your health. Being mindful can not only get you through Christmas, but also eating healthily into the New Year.

“After conducting hundreds of food studies, I’m increasingly convinced that our stomach has only three settings: 1) We either feel like we’re starving; 2) we feel like we’re stuffed; or 3) we feel like we can eat more.

“Most of the time we’re in the middle, we’re neither hungry nor full, but if something’s put in front of us, we’ll eat it.”

Whatever you eat, adding a little exercise will help to keep you on an even keel, says Laura Murphy, manager of Fitnessworx Gym in Cork.

“Instead of saying ‘I should’ or ‘I must’, think about giving yourself the gift of exercise this Christmas,” she says.

She advises people to pick an activity they like and to schedule it for a time of day when they are feeling most energetic.

Involve friends, too, she says, and be prepared: “Have your gym bag packed and ready to go by the door, or in the car for after work. Pack a nutritious snack to bring with you to have pre- or post- workout.”

It will also help to get into an exercise frame of mind.“If you have one of those days when you have no mind for exercise, tell yourself you have to exercise for only ten minutes. At least that way you’ll start the exercise knowing it will be over in no time.

“More often than not, once you’re in the exercise groove, you won’t want to give up and you’ll finish your workout.”

Murphy also has some tips that will keep you moving into the New Year.

After a really good workout, write a few notes in your workout journal about how good you feel. This will spur you on when the couch looks too inviting.

Take a photo of yourself now and take another in four weeks’ time so that you can see how well you are looking.

And speaking of looking well, Christmas is beckoning. Put on your party hat and get ready to eat, drink and be merry— without gaining a pound.

Keep weight under control

Give veg the edge: The Harvard Medical School — and countless diet and fitness experts — stress the importance of filling up on veg. Vegetables should cover at least half of your dinner plate. And eat as many as possible at other meals too. It will stop you overeating and reaching for sugary snacks.

Eat regularly: Don’t starve yourself at lunchtime because you’re going for a blow-out meal that night. Have a bowl of nourishing soup or a wholemeal sandwich and eat a snack or a piece of fruit in the afternoon to stop your energy flagging.

Water, water everywhere: Drink between 1.5 to 2 litres a day — and this Christmas you won’t even have to pay for it.

Snack wisely: One measly cocktail sausage has 60 calories and is full of fat. And who ever stopped at one (or five for that matter)? Snack on fruit, nuts and seeds, morsels of turkey on oatcakes, nut spread on crackers.

Set a limit: Enjoy your mince pies and chocolates. Just set a limit and, here’s the hard bit, stick to it. Resolving not to eat a single coffee-flavoured chocolate is not enough.

Shake a leg: Even if your exercise routine falls by the wayside, don’t stop moving. Make sure to get out for a walk, run up the stairs, stretch while the kettle is boiling, dance the night away.

Sláinte: Toast the season of goodwill by all means, but pace yourself. Drink a glass of water between each drink. Drink wine instead of cocktails, or opt for spritzers. Choose smaller glasses. Count alcohol as a course if you are eating out.

Rosanna Davison: party survival guide

Former Miss World and nutritionist Rosanna Davison answers our questions on surviving the festive season:

Q. What happens when you are out at parties, surrounded by delicious nibbles?

I do my very best to avoid sugar, so the sweet treats wouldn’t really tempt me. I would always try to have a healthy snack before I go out to parties and events so that I’m not drawn to the canapé tray.

Q. What’s your policy on alcohol?

I’m a bit of a lightweight, so I’m happy to drink in moderation, plus alcohol is loaded with empty calories. I try to stay away from wine, but I do enjoy a glass or two of Champagne.

Q. What’s your emergency detox?

The morning after the night before should be about rebalancing the system and healing the body, starting with a pint of warm water with lemon. My favourite hangover cure is a couple of ripe bananas whizzed up in the blender with a cup of chilled coconut water. It satisfies cravings for something cold and sweet, plus the natural sugars and potassium help rebalance blood electrolytes.

Q. What about finding time to exercise during the party season?

Now is the time to really make the extra effort to get outside and keep active, even if it means waking up an hour earlier to go for a brisk walk or jog, or else squeezing in a quick 15 minute bodyweight workout at home. No excuses!