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Top 10 Tips to Make it Through Christmas Without Getting Fat (Part B)

By on December 9, 2013

We’ve paid a lot of attention to keeping a trim figure over the festive period. If you guys are anything like us in the Herinterest team, the belt definitely needs letting out a bit once we are down with your Christmas feast. Clothes don’t fit quite as well after Christmas as they did before. Some of us have even been known to go up a whole dress size! That’s not good, right?

Luckily, there are plenty of tips that you can use to ensure that you don’t suffer with putting on the pounds at Christmas time. We’ve looked at why you shouldn’t turn up hungry and how sitting by the nibbles is a very bad idea. We know that it’s not wise to lose track of how many nibbles you have popped in your mouth and also why you should never deny yourself a festive treat – see it’s not all bad news! It’s time to to focus for the final five tips on how to make it through Christmas without getting fat.

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6. Swap it! 

We talk about some of the healthier swaps that you can make in Healthy Christmas Snacks for a Very Merry Christmas. We won’t repeat ourselves. We also discuss some of the easiest things that you can swap in Easy Christmas Food Swaps for a Healthier Christmas. Sometimes the smallest of swaps can make the world of difference. Even doing something as tiny as changing your dips could save you over 100 calories so it is well worth investigating! Just in case you needed a little bit of gentle persuasion, let us hit you with the facts:

a – Swap the sausage meat stuffing for a orange, cranberry and roast chestnut stuffing and you double the flavour and cut out over 100 calories per 100g. 

b – Swap the butter on your vegetables for a spritz of light oil olive and some herbs and you will cut out 40-50 calories per serving.

c – Swap the brandy butter with your Christmas pudding for low-fat custard and you’re losing about 50-70 calories. 

7. Slow down on the booze… 

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It’s easy to get carried away when you’ve had a drink. It’s easy to lose tracks of exactly what you’ve eating or been drinking. Alcohol is filled with empty calories and it blurs your judgement which brings a double whammy. You’re going to be ingesting empty calories with the booze and once it hits you, you’re likely to overeat on the nibbles, overfill your plate at the buffet, and eat more than the required amount of chocolate cake to satisfy one person. By all means let yourself have a good time and enjoy a few tipples but just be aware that when you get carried away, so does your focus.

8. Swap the booze!

If you don’t want to cut out the booze in your festive season (who could blame you) try exchanging your usual tipples with something a bit easier on your body and lighter in calories. Switching wine to vodka and light soda, for example, can cut out a whole bunch of calories and if you are usually a beer-drinker, swapping to a spirit can make the world of difference. You will also notice that these drinks with mixers are going to hit you less noticeably than wine or beer. Try some of these easy swaps:

a – Swap a Long Island iced tea (400 calories) or similar cocktail for a glass of white wine (100 calories)

b – Swap a martini (200 calories) for a light bottle of beer which only as 105 calories

9. Eat more fruit!

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It has been shown that water-based fruits such as cantaloupe, blueberries, apples, oranges, strawberries, peaches and watermelon help to make you feel full, and help you to feel fuller for longer. Grab an apple as you jump in the car to go to that fancy restaurant for dinner and you won’t eat too many calories with your meal. There are vegetables which can have the same effect too including – cucumber celery, broccoli, asparagus, cauliflower, carrots, squash and tomatoes. Leafy greens are a good idea as well – these are in abundance at this time of year and they certainly taste delicious. On top of that, they are filled with nutrients which can make getting through the colder winter months much easier. It’ll even give your immune system a boost!

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10. Look at what you’re drinking! 

You will be surprised at how many cocktails you are putting in your body from drinks that AREN’T alcohol based. Soda, for example, is well known to be particularly bad for you if you are trying to watch your weight. Your average serving can contain around 100 calories as well almost ten teaspoons of sugar. What’s the point in that? You wouldn’t eat a spoonful of sugar so why would you drink that much sugar? You wouldn’t add that to your morning cup of tea, would you?

Fancy coffees are also a danger drink to keep your eye out for this Christmas. We know that you are going to want to enjoy that Irish coffee but these “posh” coffees are already calorie-laden without you having to add booze to the mix. Sugar and cream also add even more calories so you should probably think twice about it before you enjoy it…

Ideally, you will want to drink as much water as you can during this rather toxic festive season. Water helps to flush the bad stuff out of your body and, when you are drinking, can prevent some pretty nasty hangovers. You don’t have to go as far as drinking a glass of water in between every alcoholic drink but having a couple of glasses or bottles of water throughout the evening is only going to benefit you in the morning… we’ve all had one of those dehydrated hangovers! We know how it feels!

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So there you have it – the second part of our Top 10 Tips to Make it Through Winter without Getting Fat! If you’ve not seen Part A, take a peek! Also, if you have any great tips of your own, feel free to throw them our way. Every little helps!

**Photos sourced from Pinterest.com