Yes, it’s that time of year again – the festive season where it’s time for all those Christmas parties and get-togethers where you’ll be offered more rich food and alcohol than at any other time of the year. So what can you do to make sure you don’t put on all the weight you kept off during the year – and at the same time stay reasonably healthy and level headed?
Well, luckily NurseWatch’s Nutritionist, Wendy Middleton, is here to give us some handy tips so we can get through the festive season with minimum damage.
Take a look here:
1) If you’re going to a Christmas lunch or dinner, don’t starve yourself beforehand. People often think it’s best to not eat anything for hours before but doing this just ends up with you devouring the first plate of entrees you’re given when you walk in the door.
2) If you’re heading out for the day to see friends and family, make sure you have a nourishing breakfast. Alcohol drops your blood sugar levels making you hungry. You’ll demolish a burger and fries before you know it if you’ve skipped breakfast.
3) It’s a good idea to forget about the pre-dinner chips, cheese and crackers. Go straight to the main and enjoy a long slow meal. Your digestion will thank you.
4) Order extra vegetables or a salad. Even better swap the fries for a salad.
5) Avoid large rice, pasta and deep fried dishes, as these are full of bad carbohydrates and unhealthy fats. If you’re not used to a lot of fats in your diet, you can become quite ill if you overdo it so be careful and pace yourself with these foods.
6) If you really feel like a few chips as a treat, serve yourself a small portion from a sides dish and someone else will no doubt eat the rest. Or if you’ve ordered rice or potato mash, serve your portion of rice at the beginning of the meal and then don’t add to it.
If you do overdo it, you can fix it up
Sometimes the food we’re offered over the festive season is just too tempting and you end up eating more deep fried and fatty foods than you should have. But don’t panic. Wendy has some tips for handling the next day as well.
Take a look here at these Festive Season tips:
1) Start the day with a big glass of water. During the night your body detoxifies and these toxins need to be eliminated from the body. Drinking water upon rising will flush these toxins out. It will also make you feel more clear headed and can get your bowels moving. Plus you’ve made headway into your daily water requirements.
2) Go easy and light with your food the next day after a big meal the night before. Easily digested food and lots of greens will help your body detoxify.
3) Keep hydrated. Remember you should drink 33ml per kilo of your body weight. So if you’re 50 kilos then you should drink 1650ml per day and if you’re 70 kilos you need to drink 2310ml per day.
4) Drink water between meals not with meals. Drinking a big glass of water with meals dilutes your digestive juices making it harder to breakdown your food. The food then can sit in your stomach longer which can lead to bloating. I suggest stop drinking water half an hour either side of your meal.
5) Sip don’t gulp larger quantities of water. Gulping large quantities tends to go straight through you. You’ll absorb your water better by sipping small amounts regularly. If you’re constantly taking trips to the bathroom then I’d suggest you’re not absorbing your water well.
Now you have a head start
These great tips from Wendy should give you a good head start to getting through the silly season and at the same time, staying relatively calm and well.
And if you’re throwing your own party and you need a caterer, just take a look at Wendy’s website, A Cut Above Catering. You’ll be inspired by what she can do for your party!
For more from NurseWatch, visit us here.
Photo by Brooke Lark
