The Shrinking Violet Guide: Navigating the Holiday Season – Healthily!

With December now here, the silly season is upon us! Normally this means a month filled with social occasions involving drinks, nibbles, late nights and for those trying to keep up with their healthy lifestyle; often a difficult time!

But life is for living and none of us have time for food guilt, so I have come up with a few tips to guide you through the holiday season.

Take a Plate

It can often be hard going into a setting where you’re not sure if you’re going to be able to eat what is provided. Christmas Day in New Zealand generally means roast meals or BBQ’s. These are great because it essentially consists of meat and vegetables. In these cases, we recommend making and taking a dessert that you can eat so that when the Christmas Pav or Pud comes out, you don’t feel deprived. Check out our Paleo Christmas Cake Kit here! Otherwise, if foods you can’t eat are on the menu, take a dish that you can have! Kumara and Bacon Salad? Yum! Bacon wrapped Chicken Tenders? Yes please!

Drink Plenty of Water

Ensuring you drink water throughout the night is high priority and essential the next day – especially if alcohol is consumed. Alcohol is toxic to your body so it is essential to flush water through your body, as well as rehydrate the next day. Drinking plenty water can also help minimise the symptoms from eating that Christmas Pav that your body doesn’t agree with!

Make Time to Sleep

Sleep is one of our 10WeekChallenge.co.nz essential priorities, especially if you’re having a stressful time. We all know that the holiday season can not only be tiring but incredibly stressful, so your sleep during this time needs to be top priority to give your body time to rest and recharge. Sleep is your bodies time to heal, so make sure that you plan it into your day and create a bedtime routine to make sleep easy. We recommend no electronic devices 60-90 minutes prior to sleep, blackout curtains and dim lights in the lead up to bed.

Know Your Options

Organisation is another one of our 10WC essential priorities and when it comes to staying on the straight and narrow, organisation is a major key. Knowing your options ahead of the Christmas work-do is a great way to plan out what you’re going to choose. Going to a restaurant with a set menu? Pick the gluten free option. Don’t be afraid to ask to make adjustments, such as switching fries for salad! You are not an inconvenience for putting your health first. Heading away on holiday? Check out the local restaurants in your area along with their menus so you know where to suggest when everyone wants to eat. Remember: your best options at a restaurant are protein and vegetable combos. Heading to a friends Christmas party? Ask what they’re making, and offer to bring a plate if you’re unsure on what you can eat.

Host the Party!

Hosting the Christmas Day Lunch or a Christmas Party is a great way to ensure you’re not nervous about your options. We love socialising and it shouldn’t be a time for you to feel guilty, nervous or uncomfortable. When I first changed my eating habits, I found it hard to go out. Nowadays it’s a lot easier, but I started off by inviting people to me. Hosting the lunch or party gives you an awesome opportunity to showcase your delicious and nutritious food. Going for a traditional Glazed Ham or Roast Lamb Leg is an awesome option, with plenty of side salads and mini entrees. A BBQ is another great option too – you can have a buffet style meal where everyone can choose their own plates. Don’t be too hard on yourself and include platter options for people to pick at; both of us love the ease of gluten free Rice Crackers for the platter (and check out this delicious platter bread here), and I choose gluten free chips for the special occasions too! Remember, this is a lifestyle and Christmas is about sharing good food and good memories with your loved ones. Guilt isn’t an option!

Have a Plan of Action for Post Christmas

And finally – it’s important to have a plan ready for once Christmas is over. If I had a dollar for everytime one of my clients fell off track over Christmas, threw caution into the wind over the New Year and then just never really quite made it back to their good habits? Well I’d be one rich lady! Good habits can be hard to form, and bad habits are easy to slip back into. I’ve had a Paleo Christmas coming up 5 years now and it gets easier every year. Even if you do slip up over Christmas and New Years, my recommendation would be to have a back up plan. Whether that’s doing a meal prep of delicious and healthy meals to pop into your freezer to get you started, or joining our ever popular first round of the year of 10 Week Challenge (our online lifestyle nutritional challenge that has helped hundreds of people transform their health, globally! Use 10FOR10 for 10% off until December 31st – spaces are limited to sign up now to avoid disappointment) to really get started on the right foot – making a plan is a fantastic way to make sure you start the New Year looking out for your health!