Christmas Tips

Let’s face it – there is nothing festive about guilt when we
over indulge over Christmas. With a littleplanning you can enjoy
the feast and celebration but without an ounce of regret.

Wouldn’t you love to go through Christmas this year with a deep
sense of contentment? “Yes!” I hear you say, “But how do I do
it?” I hear you cry.

Imagine it is Christmas day and it is your turn to cook the
dinner. Your family want the traditional meal and no corners
cut. You are now in a panic, what if the meal turns out to be a
flop because I burn the potatoes, or even worse forget to light
the cooker. Then I have to eat all this food, the starter, and
the turkey with all the trimmings, the Christmas pudding with
flaming brandy and brandy sauce or butter. Then there are all
the chocolates and nuts while watching television. Then we start
again with a meal in the evening. Can you see yourself
surrounded by all this food, everybody eating without a care in
the world. They forget the hard work that you have put into it,
and to make things worse you can see those 10 lbs going on that
you have worked so hard to lose. The secret to a great Christmas
is to take the focus off the feast and celebrate the spirit of
the season. For starters, stop fretting about the meal. You may
say but I am going away and someone else is doing the cooking
what if it is high in fat? Indulge it and enjoy without feeling
guilty. Remember you are in control of what you eat. The
potatoes are swimming in fat, make a choice have one only. Fill
up your plate with good healthy vegetables. Take the turkey but
leave the skin behind. You eat a lot of vegetables, which have
been boiled or steamed, so you are quite full. When the pudding
comes around you are almost full. Tell your host it looks
delicious but to really appreciate it I will only have a small
portion because anything else will make me too full and that
would spoil the taste of what you have made. Make sure you don’t
sit watching television with your hands in the nuts or
chocolates. If there is fruit around then say that looks good
and have some to eat, you might be surprised at how many people
will join you. Another trick is if you have a coffee table where
the chocolates or nuts are normally kept then move them into the
kitchen or another place. Put attractive bowls of fruit in front
of people instead. I have found that people will eat what is in
front of them, but they will think twice about walking to
another room for chocolates. Christmas is a time for all the
family and that includes you. Make sure you have some time on
your own. It doesn’t matter if dinner is served 10 mins late.
You will find your family will appreciate having you stress-free
rather than snapping at everybody, because of the pressure of
the day. Now you will do the following. When you get up you will
have 10 mins for yourself. Go and have a bath and lock the door.
Use some wonderful fragrances and relax. If you can’t do this
tell the family in advance. 10 mins for me and then you can have
me for the rest of the day. Get a cup of tea or coffee and sit
quietly, reflect on the wonderful things in your life. Take this
time to ring a dear friend who you know you wont see on the day.
Just chat and relax. If the family want to pamper you let them,
and that includes breakfast. Under no circumstance are you
allowed to skip this meal. You might want to eat less so you can
use your calories later in the day, but you must eat something.
Let them bring you a boiled egg and toast, with a cup of tea or
coffee, and some fresh fruit. It is Christmas buy some exotic
fruits and make a fruit salad and squeeze a fresh orange over
it. You have the perfect excuse for a light breakfast in that
you will be having a large meal later. You are about to make
dinner and the last thing you want is to feel stress. You need
to enjoy the day like the rest of the family. Put on some nice
music, light a candle in the kitchen, even take a small glass of
wine. Relax is the key. Get the turkey into the oven and do as
much preparation as you dare. Timing is everything. If you are
not sure when to eat, ask the family. If you need help then make
sure you ask the family to give you a hand. If you eat in the
evening, then make sure you have a light lunch, some soup,
French bread and fresh fruit. Arrange exotic fruits on a platter
so people can munch away. Now you take control either before the
meal or afterwards and you say it is time for a walk. Turn on
the video so they don’t miss anything, wrap up warm and go for a
walk. If you can get into the countryside then go. It is never
too cold to walk, you just wrap up well. There is something
wonderful about feeling that cool breeze on your face. The table
needs to be set and maybe someone is artistic in the family, get
them to do it. Children love to help, don’t be concerned if they
do it the wrong way, encourage them. If you have younger
children and are having a house full. Let them write place
settings, it doesn’t matter if the names are spelt wrong. Get
one of the older children to answer the door and greet people.
They will feel so proud to do this, and they can also make sure
the person has something to drink. Now is the time to sit and
eat the meal that you have lovingly prepared. No you will not
feel guilty about it, be thankful for everything that is before
you. You have tried to make it as low-fat as possible. Yes you
might eat more calories than you would have liked, but no you
will not feel guilty. It is one day, tomorrow you are back on
plan. If you plan carefully then you will not get it wrong. You
will know what is on the menu, so you will shop accordingly. You
will know what each meal is going to be. Now I can feel some of
you saying, my family always have a certain meal because it is
the tradition of our home. They wouldn’t appreciate me doing
something different. My answer is that a tradition was always
started by someone. It hasn’t been a tradition from eternity.
Someone started it and it continued. Imagine you do something
different this year and your family love it. Keep imagining that
you are now sitting with your children and their children having
Christmas in their home. How will you feel when one of your
children says we do this because Mom did it for us. She started
this tradition and we love it so much that we have continued it
for the past 20 years. I broke our family traditions many years
ago, but replace the old with tasty foods that nobody complained
about. You can do the same. Take time to be bold this year and
decide that Christmas is going to be healthy for all the family.
They will thank you for it in the long run. How many of us blame
our bad eating habits on our parents. By keeping to these
traditions you are setting yourself up for your children to
blame you for their bad eating habits. By starting new
traditions of eating you are setting your children up to be
healthy and not have a weight problem. This is one Christmas
gift you can all give to your family. Can you afford not to do
it?

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