December Survival Guide- how to fight waist expansion this festive season

Christmas parties.... Boxing Day brunch.... New Year’s Eve.... Hangovers, chocolate, champagne and cake.... A lot of food and alcohol gets crammed into the festive month of December! Between now and New Year, the majority of people will put on between 7 and 12 lbs. So it comes as no surprise that people make guilty New Years resolutions. This article is here to help you limit the damage that December does to your waist line…

First off – the Christmas party...

• Before you head to the staff party or out with friends, set a limit on how many drinks you’ll have. This way you’ll know when you should stop. If you go any further, start thinking about your waist line! It can also help to prevent any unfortunate incidents such as being rude to your boss, bad dancing, or otherwise humiliating yourself in front of your friends and co workers.
• Don't go to a party on an empty stomach. Eat proteins beforehand such as chicken or cottage cheese. This way you will feel satisfied for much longer and won’t pig out on chipolatas and cake while you're at the party.
• You should never skip meals, especially at Christmas time! If you skip meals, your body will switch to starvation metabolism and wont burn as many calories. Plus, it increases the chances of you stuffing yourself later on.
• Of course you're going to drink alcohol over the festive period, and there is nothing wrong with that. What you can do to help the calorie overload is to drink light colour beers and wines. Avoid the mixers and cocktails- they contain loads of calories!
• You can slow the pace by having some water between alcoholic drinks...this will keep you hydrated, thus helping with hangovers!

How to stay healthy while surrounded by Festive Food!

• Desserts...always tempting when they are around, and they seem to be everywhere over Christmas. Try to limit yourself to small portions, or share with a friend. Eat slowly and savour every bite…this is much more satisfying (and healthy) than wolfing down bowlfuls!
• Make healthy choices, such as turkey and fish. Eat as many vegetables (including Brussels sprouts) as you can fit on your plate – this will fill you up before dessert.
• Eat till you’re satisfied - not until your belt breaks. There is a big difference. I hear a lot that finishing your plate is a learned behaviour in the UK. That parents are to blame for telling us to "finish your meal, there are people starving in Africa!" I have even heard it was imprinted in our culture during the World Wars when food was scarce. I think that it’s just natural to eat food that’s in front of you, and it takes discipline to stop when you are satisfied. Eat slowly and learn to listen to your body, it will let you know when you are full.
• Eat when you are hungry only! Don’t mistake hunger with starving: If there was a scale of 0-10, 0 is hungry, 5 is satisfied, 7 is full and 10 is loosening your belt and falling asleep on the sofa, eat only to 5, and only again when you are hungry. If you wait till you are starving, you are more likely to stuff yourself or make unhealthy food choices.

Fitting in some Exercise

Now for most of us, the most exercise we get over Christmas is running around the shops to get last minute presents. Even if you had a great exercise routine in place beforehand, it’s very difficult to stay on track during the festive period.

• Book your workouts in now! Open your diary and note down at least one day a week when you will be active. If you book them in now, you’ll be less likely to miss them.
• If you know you’re going to be over indulging in the evening, do something active beforehand! Not only will it help balance out the extra calories you’ll have in the evening, you’ll feel less guilty about it too! You can reckon on 50 - 100 calories in the bank for every mile you walk fast or jog...

John Cann

Starting On Monday by Judith Viorst

Starting on Monday, I'm living on carrots and bouillon.
Starting on Monday I'm bidding the bagel adieu.
I'm switching from Hersheys with almonds to gaunt and anaemic,
And people will ask me could that skinny person be you.
I'll count every calorie from squash (half a cup, 47)
To life savers (8), stalk of celery (5), pepper ring (2),
Starting on Monday.

Starting on Monday I'll jog for a mile in the morning.
(That's after the sit-ups and push-ups and touching my toes.)
The gratification I once used to seek in lasagna
I'll find on the day I have to go buy smaller clothes.
I'll turn my attention from infantile pleasures like Clark Bars
To things like the song of a bird and the scent of a rose,
Starting on Monday.

Starting on Monday my will will be stronger than brownies,
And anything more than an unsalted egg will seem crude.
My inner-thigh fat and upper-arm flab will diminish.
My cheeks will be hollowed, my ribs will begin to protrude.
The bones of my pelvis will make their initial appearance-
A testament to my relentless abstention from food,
Starting on Monday.

But Tuesday a friend came for coffee and brought homemade muffins.
And Wednesday I had to quit jogging because of my back.
On Thursday I read in the paper an excess of egg yolk
Would clog up my vessels and certainly cause an attack.
On Friday we ate at the Goldfarbs. She always makes cream sauce,
And always gets sulky if people don't eat what she makes.
On Saturday evening we went with the kids to a drive-in.
I begged for a Fresca but all they were selling were shakes.
On Sunday my stomach oozed over the top of my waistband,
And filled with self-loathing I sought consolation in pie
And the thought that Onassis could bribe me with yachts and with emeralds
But still I'd refuse to taste even a single french fry...
Starting on Monday...

From: It's Hard to Be Hip Over Thirty and Other Tragedies of Married Life

by Judith Viorst (an American poet who could be seen as a Desperate Housewives' equivalent of John Betjeman)    Highly recommended if you have a sense of the tragic humour of middle class life...    Published by Persephone in the 1980s and available second hand from Amazon's sellers. ISBN: 1903155010