When you’re on a fat loss journey, the Christmas period can be daunting. We’re surrounded by more food, drinks and social events.
But it doesn’t need to be.
We have tips on how to stay on track this festive season, while still enjoying your favourite foods.
We’re still coming to terms with the fact we’re already in December, let alone the fact that Christmas is next week!
After another wild ride of a year, it’s time to enjoy some festivities with the ones we love most.
Now the silly season is of course filled with all the yummiest of foods and drinks and can no doubt be overwhelming if you’re also trying to prioritise your health and fitness goals. But we’re here to tell you, that you really can have it all!
Here’s how…
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Eat, drink and be mindful!
We don’t suggest completely throwing your health goals out the window at this time of year. Instead, to stay on track this festive season, we encourage you to use your intuition and be conscious of your food choices. It’s not about what you’re eating, but how much.
Portion sizes play a big part in weight loss and maintenance, so mindfully enjoy the food you want to enjoy without bingeing. Be aware of the calorie-dense foods such as processed meats, cheeses and rich, creamy dressings and sauces, and aim to stock your plate with more nutrient-dense fruits, vegetables and salads.
If you’re keen to sip on a few alcoholic drinks, keep those calories in mind too. You may want to adjust your portions accordingly, but be sure to drink responsibly and eat enough food. Also be mindful of any non-alcoholic beverages with high sugar content.
Track loosely
Tip number two for how to stay on track this festive season.
Perhaps you want to continue tracking your intake to keep on top of your goals during such a busy and social time of year.
Tracking loosely means you can do this without the pressure of needing to know everything exactly down to the last calorie – especially when you’re eating meals made by others.
Here are our suggestions:
- Guesstimate and track in your Equalution app either through deconstructing the meal via the components or select a closest match entry from our list of meals.
- Be sure to account for oil if used in the cooking method – there’s calories in that too.
- Try to stay within a 40 calories under or over range of your daily goal.
- Consume 100g of protein if you’re a female or 130g if you’re a male.
- Hit at least 20g of fibre if you’re a female) or 30g fibre if you’re a male.
- Kept your fats within 20-30% of your entire day of eating.
Most importantly, don’t stress yourself too much over tracking! Incorporating the festive season into your lifestyle is possible, it’s not at all about depriving yourself.
Sign up to our Do It For You Challenge
Another way for how to stay on track this festive season…
We all like having something to look forward to, right? Our Do It For You 8 Week Challenge kicks off on January 16 and for the first time is giving away not one, but two $5000 cash prizes!
By signing up to this challenge you will receive personalised meal plans and daily intake goals, 1:1 coaching with our nutrition experts, challenge member-only recipes, access to our exclusive Facebook community group and more!
We’ll not only transform your body, but your relationship with food. Our science-based, life-friendly programs mean you can be the healthiest version of you and still enjoy the food you love.
Try a calorie ‘allowance’
Tip five for how to stay on track this festive season. So, if you’re planning to dine out for a meal at night, but the rest of your day is relatively normal and within your usual intake goals you can simply look at how many calories you have left come that dinner reservation and simply eat mindfully, making choices that you think will fall somewhat within your goals and remaining calories and macros.
Keep moving
Tip six for how to stay on track this festive season.
Try to start your day with some sort of movement or exercise – whatever it is you like to do most. This will not only help maintain your weight loss or maintenance goals if you’re consuming more food than usual, but will also give you a more positive mindset for the day ahead. It’ll also mean you’re less likely to be hard on yourself around what you’re eating.
Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate!
We can’t preach it enough, you need to drink water and lots of it! We recommend at least three litres a day. Most of the time we can confuse being thirsty with being hungry, so keeping hydrated will avoid overeating. It also doesn’t hurt to be hydrated in case you have a little bit of a Chrissy hangover (we’ve all been there)!
We hope these hacks will help you out with how to stay on track this festive season!