Portion, Portion, Portion
Your Christmas Dinner has a staggering amount of calories within it, up to 1500 calories for a sensible sized Christmas Meal. For full details, read this article from the British Nutrition Foundation.
Eating sensible portions in one of those things we struggle with when it comes to diet and nutrition, we are not quite sure what a portion is and we we normally eat till we are full and by that time it’s too late.
So what can we do?
There a few things we can do that will modify our habits, activity and ultimately reduce the positive calorie state.
1. Dont arrive hungry.
The Christmas season brings all kinds of Christmas nibbles, whether at a works Christmas Party, over the Christmas period or on New Years Eve, nibbles and party food are sure to tempt you. The best thing we can do is ensure we don’t arrive to the party hungry. It’s easy to eat a meals worth of food in just nibbles in no time at all. A sensible meal before hand will ensure you only ‘nibble’.
2. Eat breakfast!
A healthy breakfast on Christmas day will fire up your metabolism, again waiting to eat until dinner is dished up in the afternoon is a sure fire way to ensure your starving and will most definitely over eat! Curb you hunger by eating breakfast, a mid morning snack and you’ll eat sensibly through your Christmas Meal.
3. Pace yourself
Christmas Dinner is a big meal, take your time when eating and you’ll give your body a chance to let you know when it’s full. The body is very slow at detecting when it’s had too much and if; you feel full, you’ve already had too much.
4. Stay active
We seem to slow down at Christmas which further compounds the positive calorie state. Going for a Christmas morning walk, walking instead of driving, getting out with the kids in the snow (should it snow) are simple little things that keep us moving and keep the calories burning. The key here is think about being more active, if you can get a short 10 minute workout in, do it!