Weight Loss Tips for Surviving Christmas

We were all designed to be fat. Annoying but true; our ancestors never knew whether it was going to be feast or famine. So in the feast times they ate and put on weight. When the famine came along all that stored fat came in useful.

Of course it helped that they had very active lifestyles. In the feast times they built up muscle and bone as well as fat, so they had well-padded sturdy bodies that were famine resistant.

21st century life demands a different metabolism, as we are now surrounded by feast all the time and the only famine is a self-imposed diet. This goes against all of our cave-person instincts, fasting in the midst of food.

Christmas for many of us genuinely is a feast, so on Christmas day loosen your belt, overindulge and be prepared to feel fat. Only a killjoy will be fasting then. And here are some tips for surviving in non-fat mode up until the winter feast:

* If you love mince pies, don’t buy them until just before the big day. You’ll get them two weeks early and keep them? Who are you kidding? You know you’ll want to taste “just one” and it’s downhill from there. And at nearly 300 calories per pie, you can’t afford it.

* Some of the Christmas treats, e.g. nuts, are healthy, but only if you eat them in tiny quantities. A snack is two brazil nuts, not the whole bag. Even better, buy the unshelled ones, by the time you get into them you’ll have lost your appetite.

* View with disdain the sugary treats such as candied fruit, Turkish delight, sugared almonds and other sweetmeats. They make a fine Dickensian Christmas spread but unless you want a Pickwickian waistline, avoid them. Don’t think you’ll have just one, as once you start you might go for the lot. And then you have to buy more (see mince pies, above).

* If you can’t resist chocolate decorations on the tree, don’t buy them. We haven’t for years. Chocolate advent calendars are out too. The chocolate in them normally tastes like candle wax but that doesn’t put off the dedicated chocoholic. We do make a chocolate Christmas tree (no, it’s not 6ft tall!) and it gets eaten between Christmas and New Year. You can’t sneak bits off it without it being obvious.

* However stressful your relatives are, don’t use food for comfort. Instead, think of imaginative ways you could maul them with Christmas trees*, or invent a game where they have to make a doll’s house out of Christmas cards, or plan ingenious place settings to put irritating relatives next to each other… but don’t eat your way out of aggravation.

Remember it’s meant to be fun. Go easy on the alcohol, but on the big day relax, sit back and enjoy. Get the silly hat out of the cracker and plan who is best suited to eat the leftovers (hint – it’s not you).

Happy Christmas one and all!

For the record... I do not advocate violence against loved ones, however provoking they are.

(c) 2008 Liz Copeland

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