Be Healthy This Christmas

It may be the season to be joyful and merry but that doesn’t mean you need to back track on your progress. Check out these useful tips which could help you have a festive season that will not tamper your gains but satisfy your cravings:

How to keep fit over Christmas

Continue to exercise: The Christmas period quite commonly becomes extremely busy, days seems to pass as quickly as you can actually say ‘Christmas’ and let’s face it running around quickly begins to zap you of energy. No matter how busy you are it is important to keep up with your regular routine i.e. if you exercise, continue to exercise. Exercise is ironically one of the best ways to improve that sluggish tired feeling. It doesn’t matter if you don’t put in  your usual routine in the gym, as long as you are committing to some sort of task that increases your heart rate and helps you dust off the cobwebs, you will be surprised at how great it will make you feel.

Embrace Shopping: Take every opportunity to hit your local shopping centre. When you do, park as far away as possible, clocking those extra steps will help you incorporate a brisk walk ,helping you increase that heart rate. That being said you probably won’t find a space close to the door so just embrace the walk and enjoy clocking up those extra steps. Once your inside embrace every shop, walk from one end to the other and carry everything you have bought to help you burn extra calories, it will be worth it for a mince pie.

Keep yourself satisfyingly full: Some people say it’s a myth but try it for yourself. If you go shopping hungry, you are a lot more tempted to buy those foods which are temptations and not necessarily nutritional or satisfying. Going shopping on a comfortably full stomach with a list will give you structure and will help you to become less distracted by those huge gooey chocolate cakes and that intriguing smell of freshly baked bread or fast food.

Make substitutions: If you find yourself craving 10 chocolate fingers or that super sugary shortbread, try to find a healthier alternative to curb your cravings. A small square of dark chocolate is rich in antioxidants and it’s also lower in fat and sugar than shortbread fingers. You could also make up a batch of healthy “go to treats” to ensure you know exactly what you are eating and keep you on track.

Portion Control: You’ve probably done everything you can to keep from over eating and bad snacking but after all it is Christmas. Allow yourself to indulge a little but ensure that you stay in control, manage your portion sizes and keep a regular count of how many glasses (or pints) of wine you have consumed. If you have allowed yourself to indulge make sure that tomorrow is a clean sheet and back to those clean eats.

Limit alcohol consumption: Generally alcohol rack ups 7 calories per gram whereas carbohydrates and proteins have 4. It’s important to remember that our bodies metabolise alcohol ahead of everything else that we consume meaning it can put that healthy lifestyle we choose to follow on hold. If you do choose to have alcohol over the Christmas period try to stick to simple drinks which are low in sugar and heavy ingredients.

With a few conscious efforts you may just see there is no reason to derail the gains train, try it!

Contact Diverse Trainers

Diverse Trainers provide personal trainer qualifications that can help you take your first steps into a new career. Develop new skills in 2017 and complete one of our fantastic fitness courses.

Contact us online if you have any questions regarding our courses or speak to a member of our team by calling us on [phone-links] (North) or 0203 8418880 (South).