Here come the holidays—and there goes your diet! For many of us, the Yuletide season is synonymous with decadent feasts and gratuitous bingeing, two things we purposely avoid the rest of the year. Every office party, barkada get-together, and family reunion becomes a gastronomic trap from which there is no escape (and in which we are quite willing participants).
But getting into Christmas mode shouldn’t mean going up a size (or two). Contrary to popular belief, you can still enjoy the festivities while keeping that trim figure you’ve work hard on for the past eleven months. Here are some shape-sustaining strategies to show you how.
Eat before you go. It may seem like killjoy advice at first, but eating right before you arrive at a Christmas party tops the tips for staying fit on howtodothings.com. Break that nasty habit of starving yourself all day so you can pig out during dinner; this not only slows down your metabolism, but also stores calories that are usually burned off in the course of the day as fat. Before leaving the house, have some lean protein—like chicken breast—with salad greens; if pressed for time, snack on a large piece of fruit and unsalted nuts. This will pacify your suppertime hunger and control the urge to eat more than you actually want to.
Plan your plate. Size matters in the seasonal eating game! This eHow.com article shares how using a small plate at a Christmas buffet—and pre-planning what should go on that plate—actually decreases the tendency to binge. First, pick a salad or starter plate to put your food on; since there is less space to fill, this gives the illusion of having more food. Then, start with the healthier fare at the buffet like sushi, steamed fish, or grilled protein. After you’ve added this to your dish, you can add little portions of the “bad things” from the spread—cream-based pasta, fatty steak, or that old Pinoy favorite—lechon. You’ll be filled to the brim—in a good way—before you know it.
Watch the cocktails. “Blame it on the alcohol,” is such a prevalent excuse—and not just during the Christmas season—that it was turned into a hit song by Jamie Foxx. While knocking back a few does get you nice and loose, here’s some bad news from womenfitness.net: a single cocktail served in holiday proportions can pack up to 500 calories or more! So put down the wine glass and pick up a water bottle—the choice not only purifies your body from toxins, but also lets you enjoy the season with a sober-sexy bod!
Keep moving. Two words: consistent cardio. Whether it is a brisk walk after a meal or an hour at your spinning class, you can maintain your weight and offset all the goodies you’ve been scarfing down by maintaining a daily cardiovascular routine. About.com’s holiday exercise guide recommends staying active every day, even if that means a 10-minute regimen of jumping rope. You can fit that into your busy schedule of Christmas feasting, can’t you?
Indulge a little. Forget sticking to depressing diets that permit nothing but oatmeal! At the end of the day, it is the holidays—so give yourself a break! Have that side of mashed potatoes, taste that piece of cake; the key is portion control. Completely depriving yourself is contested by the final tip on this Holiday Survival Guide and—at least in this country—is tantamount to diminishing the Christmas spirit. You probably will break at some point, anyway, and backslide into a gigantic gorge-fest you will rue the morning after. Eat, drink, and be merry, but be reasonable, too.
