Top Tips For Having a Healthy Christmas

Christmas can be brutal for our bodies. The social engagements around Christmas are relentless and all seem to be centred around alcohol and food! It is fun at the time, but we often come away drowsy, lethargic, and feeling generally awful. To avoid this, I have compiled a list of 10 tips for a healthy Christmas. The idea was to share some practical advice from my personal experience, and hopefully turn your Christmas into something more positive for your entire family.

Create your own active Christmas tradition: my family has always met for an early morning surf on Christmas day, and this year is no exception. I will turn up at 5 or 6am with my 4YO in tow, and perpetuate this tradition with my own family. It is a great way for us to connect through sport, it is often peaceful, with no one else on the water. I always go home feeling refreshed and ready to tackle the day! If your family is not particularly sporty, think about what does interest them. Most people can walk, but often don’t make the time. A leisurely stroll on the beach, simply appreciating everyone’s company might be the ticket for your family! Likewise backyard cricket is often easy to incorporate into the day, get out and participate!
A sneaky windsurf before the party (I was lucky that the wind was in early)
Bring a plate to the Christmas Party: If you’re not hosting, make sure you contribute a plate of healthy alternatives that you can gorge on guilt-free. Salads, celery and carrot sticks, bliss balls, etc are all good examples of foods that you can contribute, that will be appreciated, and you can eat first before consuming everything else!

Healthy, sugar free gingerbread
Make time to move: even if you’re the most active family in the world, you are still likely to over eat by as much as 4 x your recommended daily calorie intake at Christmas*. Make sure you make time just for you, to hit the gym and negate the damaging effects of your binge. This time will not magically appear, you have to plan it. Also, you’re unlikely to feel like it due to the lethargy caused by excess sugar, but make sure you do it anyway.
Have a healthy breakfast on Christmas Day: You cannot go past oats for breakfast. They fill you up, are full of fibre and antioxidants, and will balance your blood sugar so you’re less likely to overeat at lunchtime. You can maximise the health benefits by adding chia seeds, berries, and almond milk.
Go vegetarian for a day: studies show that vegetarians are generally healthier, live longer, and suffer less cancers than their meat-eating counterparts**. By avoiding the meat for just Christmas day, you will also consume less sugary and salty sauces, less calories, and more vegetables (thus nutrients). This means your body will be consuming less harmful ingredients and more beneficial ones. It also means you can enjoy the plum pudding and short bread…!
Skip dinner: generally we do not condone skipping meals, it plays havoc with your metabolism and can encourage your body’s hormones to “hold on” to calories. However, on Christmas day, where you have been eating and drinking all day, if you have the opportunity to come home for dinner do, and then skip it! If you must eat, go for a salad (or shake) with lots of leafy greens, colourful vegetables, and a sprinkle of sunflower and pumpkin seeds and vinegar. This will help your body recover from the day’s excess eating.
Be outside: we are lucky enough to enjoy a summer Christmas, so lets get out of the house! Being outside will mean you can only eat what you bring with you, and you’re more likely to be active. If your Christmas is already arranged for someone’s house, spend as much time as possible in their pool or backyard.

Our family Christmas celebrations on the weekend included an Adult water-fight
Be Helpful: there is plenty of prepping, clearing, and cleaning to be done on Christmas day, and assisting your host is yet another way to move your body. They’ll also really appreciate the help.
Negotiate with yourself: personally, I eat whatever I want on Christmas day, however I always consume copious healthy foods beforehand. During the nibblies, I consume handfuls of carrot sticks, salsa, hummus, and celery sticks. My plate during lunch or dinner is always 3/4 salad. This is the deal I make myself, where I ensure that my nutritional needs are met, and my stomach is full of fibre, water, and nutrients before anything else. What bargain can you strike with yourself to ensure that you make the best of the day? Other ideas include: drinking a glass of water between each glass of wine, consuming only vegetables before 12 or after 3, and sticking to the seafood.
Be happy: all this advice is useless if you’re going to stress over it! Stress can be as harmful for your health as obesity***. Even if all your best laid plans go out the window, you need to breath, appreciate the moment, and let it go.