Oops…Xmas treats got me. Naughty girl!
Ok, be honest….how many mince pies have you had so far?
I’ve had 4.
Maybe you hate them so they’re easy to avoid, but you’re caving to something else like
lebkuchen, mulled wine or a christmas flavoured coffee when you’re out shopping.
^^ Do you even know what Lebkuchen is? I didn’t until this morning.
Anyway, whatever it is…..IT’S OK!!
Now I’m not one to tell you to do something I couldn’t do like completely abstain from some Christmas treats, however I certainly encourage you to be mindful with it (and to be a bit kind to yourself)
In the Party Body Plan I’m working on the girls to help them stay as strong as possible in the run up to Christmas and to enjoy at the same time.
We all want change and to be & feel better.
To feel happier
Healthier
Have more energy
Like ourselves more
Have more amazing times with people we love and
to do that we’ve got to look after ourselves.
As one of the girls put it the other day….” My inner critic is a bitch”
Nobody can put ourselves down quite as much as what we do to ourselves.
Each day aiming to be ‘good’ yet tell ourselves we’re failures,
feel fat and grumpy and annoyed because we didn’t stay on plan,
have one bad meal and feel like the hard work of the past few days is completely ruined.
It’s hard to give ourselves a break but truth is a healthy, happy balanced diet and lifestyle is flexible.
We can adapt anything.
Miss a workout one day, try the next day to do something
End up caving to the home-made goodies somebody brings in to work, change your next meal to be a little lighter than what you may have planned.
(surely you don’t want to seem rude when someone delightfully bakes something gorgeous and asks you to try)
The path to change – in fact, life in general – is not simple
There will be many changes, hurdles and obstacles which come our way. The best thing we can do is learn that this is completely normal and that we can train ourselves to try and overcome these obstacle…but if we completely crash into them, we learn we can always pick ourselves back up.
As I’m watching Danny learn (he’s going to be 11 months on Monday – OMG!)
He’s starting to walk and he is constantly falling.
Sometimes doing a complete pirouette that a professional ballerina would be proud of before crashing down to the ground.
Imagine he decided it was too tough doing all this falling. That he was a failure of a baby and he’s gonna crawl or cry to be picked up forever. Like all babies….he gets straight back up and works to do it again. Each time learning and getting better.
We’ll all have some wobbles but the main thing is to never give up.
So how can you best prep yourself for surviving the Christmas goodies?
Here’s some tips.
Fact is, we’re not actually partying 24/7 so there are many ‘normal’ meals to have.
When you’re having your brekkie, base it around protein & veggies and you can’t go wrong. Like scrambled egg or sausages with some mushrooms or tomatoes.
For lunch you can easily have last nights extras to take or make something that again is filled with veggies or salad and get a good portion of protein in there. Maybe some chicken, tuna, salmon, turkey or cheese.
Dinner – get your slowcooker working hard for you. Ultimate comfort food which you can serve on its own or on a bed of veggies instead of rice or pasta.
If you’re eating out at a party – play with one devil. Choose to enjoy some carbs, some dessert or a drink. (Best to avoid all three as that will send your calories for the day way up)
Then……as your meals are all balanced and keeping you on track. A little treat is not going to be the end of the world a few times per week.
Here’s some examples of what you may face:
Minced Pie: You’re looking at an average of 250 kCals on top of your day.
Lebkuchen: 1 cookie is approx 110 kCals
Mulled Wine: 125m approx 120 kCal
Toffee Nut Latte: Tall with semi skimmed milk 264kCals
Gingerbread Latte: 258kCals
These are a few figures for you to consider.
As I’ve said before, what you eat in a day is important.
You need to feel full, energised and satisfied, which means you need balanced meals. However, as long as you’re in a calorie deficit you’ll lose weight.
If you have a day where you estimate you’ve gone over, pull it back the next day.
Again…as long as you’re in a deficit for the week and you’re eating foods that serve you, you should see a difference.
When you look at it this way, you can manage your week a lot easier and accept that you’re normal just like everyone else. You like some goodies and you can often find it hard to resist.
Sometimes you do resist and you feel proud, sometimes you don’t but follow my tips and hopefully this will prevent you being too hard on yourself.
So that inner critic may still be a bit negative and bossy, it may take a while to sort her out but work on it and you’ll soon accept that healthy eating actually has a bit of everything, in the right quantities.
Next week I’m going to be offering 12 days of motivation with my free 12 days of fitness plan.
Fancy joining in?
I hope to see you having a go with me
Tara xxx