It is amazing how much we eat on Christmas day and just don’t realise.

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Think about how many times you walk past the nibbles and grab a handful of this or that. It really adds up over the day.

Here are my top 10 Christmas day survival tips:

1. Start the day by putting out a little of everything you like onto a plate, e.g. a few cashews, choc almonds, lollies, small slice of Christmas cake and cover with glad wrap. Only go to this plate during the day and once it is all gone then stop.
2. Have a little of everything and I mean a LITTLE; a lot of everything is a problem. Food isn’t the only thing Christmas is about, so enjoy family and friends.
3. Remember Christmas is only one day of the year so enjoy the day, but remember you will have to face the scales eventually.
4. Look for opportunities to be active. Take a walk after lunch, join in with the kids’ games, play a game of backyard cricket. This will help burn off any extra calories you consume over the day.
5. Avoid overeating high fat, high sugar foods. It is much better to fill up on salads, veggies, lean meats and fruit platters.
6. Don’t sit in front of the platters of Christmas treats; instead sit with your back to the tempting food so you won’t overindulge.
7. Keep hydrated on the day, drink lots of water so that you don’t confuse hunger with being thirsty.
8. Keep tabs on the amount of high calorie soft drinks and alcohol you consume.
9. Take your good intentions with you if visiting family on the 25th. Offer to take some safe food with you – why not make and take some of my mini quiches? Planning ahead is the clever way to avoid eating food that you don’t want to eat.
10. And finally, if all else fails and you have overindulged the best thing you can do is get back to healthy eating as soon as possible. The longer you drag it out, the worse it will be.

The way I see it you have two options to manage your Christmas festivities: 1) Try to opt for the healthy options or 2) Just go for it and manage the damage after Christmas.

Which one will you opt for? Please SHARE in the comments below.

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