The Festive Season is here, and with it comes lots of celebrations...team nights out, office parties, Christmas meals with friends. That's before you even factor in Christmas itself. I don't know about you but my December is pretty booked up already and everything seems to revolve around eating and drinking.
All of the rich foods, drinking and late nights takes its toll on our bodies both inside and out. So how do we go about surviving this mince pie mine field...?
Well, this is my plan:
Avoid consecutive nights out...
...where possible. Having at least one day in between to get a good night sleep and recover from the previous night is key to surviving a busy December.
Keep hydrated
I am usually pretty good at sticking to drinking the recommended 2 ltrs a day but I'll be making a conscious effort to keep this up throughout the next month. Drinking alcohol can cause dehydration and this is usually what causes those familiar hangover symptoms of headaches and tiredness. If you can manage a few glasses throughout your night or even just before bed then you will be on to a winning start. I know, this is not as easy as it sounds.
Keep on tracking
I find that the only way for me to keep an eye on what I eat is to write it down, regardless of what it is or how many calories it contains. The odd celebration chocolate here or there can soon add up. Throughout December I allow myself my daily advent calendar choccy (this year I have treated myself to a Galaxy one) in an attempt to avoid the other treats that always end up floating around the office. Luckily for me, my team's sweets supply is not in my eyeline or within arms reach (out of sight out of mind). I'm not going to say that I will go through December without eating a mince pie (as I certainly won't) but I also won't be eating one everyday just because they are there.
Keep planning
This is definitely the biggest thing for me in staying with my healthy eating lifestyle. Each Monday evening I bulk batch a few meals that I can have for lunch and evening meals that week. I'm hoping I'll be able to keep this up given that nobody plans festive events for a Monday night. I used to do this on a Sunday but it kept getting in the way of me enjoying my weekends and now I feel like my Monday routine works perfectly for me.
Tactical drinking
Like I mentioned here when drinking I always try to stick to Gin & Slim as my lower calorie drink of choice and I'll be keeping this up over the festive period. I do find this harder at this time of year compared to when on holiday given that wine seems to be pretty free flowing as the drink of choice at work events and also mulled wine is just so tempting on these colder days. It's not about being 100% all of the time it's more about the little wins and being conscious to not neck a bottle of Baileys!
Organising gym visits...
...for those days when I know I'll be going out. I am a natural morning person so working out before work is ideal for me, plus it allows to get my exercise done and wash my hair before work and then will not feel guilty about eating carbs later on. I appreciate for those non-morning people out there this can be a little more difficult as the nights out tend to start straight from work. You can make it work with a lunch hour session if your gym is conveniently located and you have the inclination. I find that if I am out drinking it is not wise to skip on the carbs as that usually ends up with me being a little drunker than I would like.
I'm lucky that my gym has a sauna and steam room so I will be making sure I sweat out any hangovers I do end up with whilst giving my skin a well deserved cleanse, flushing out any toxins.
Enjoy!
Christmas is my absolute favourite time of year and the lead up to it is sometimes even better than the day itself so although I will be aiming to stay 'on plan', I don't intend on beating myself up too much if I slip a little bit here or there.
How do you plan on getting through the party season? I love to hear any tips you have...
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