Survive the Christmas party season without gaining weight!

With tiny black dresses and huge temptations all around, the party season is traditionally a mid-winter extravaganza that leaves a dieter feeling left out in the cold. The choices available at Christmas parties are often far from fat-free, the atmosphere is usually carefree, the alcohol is flowing and it’s a time to really let loose after months of hard work.

The temptation is just to jack in the diet for the duration of the party season, and sort out the damage in the New Year. BIG mistake, you will feel so disappointed with yourself and the truth is you can have fun and control your weight. I never believed that before but for the last 4 years I have enjoyed Christmas with all the indulgence and celebrations but not gained weight!

Regardless of how much mistletoe there is around, you don’t have to kiss your diet goodbye this Christmas! If you were planning to opt for the corset to hold in the curves this party season, why not just make a few careful choices instead?

I’m not suggesting that you abstain completely from the fun but these tips will help you party on without piling on the pounds!

Plan ahead!
Due to large numbers attending Christmas dinners and parties, hotels and restaurants often ask that you make menu choices before the event. If you make the choice beforehand, you avoid the risk of being tempted with a higher calorie meal.

If you are going to a drinks reception, try to have a healthy meal beforehand. If you don’t have time for a full meal, fit in a protein rich snack, such as a Herbalife Formula 1 bar, protein bar or crackers with low fat cheese. Being hungry means you will be more tempted to nibble your way through those calorie and fat laden finger foods!

H²0, H²0, H²0!
Keep a glass of water in front of you at all times. This will help to fill you up and also help to reduce the amount of alcohol you are drinking.

The facts on finger-food
Stay away from conversations around the buffet table, it’s all too easy to just keep picking.

Avoid deep fried finger foods like chicken nuggets, cocktail sausages or samosas – one tiny cocktail sausage can have over 60 calories and 5g of fat! Vol-au-vents, quiches and other pastry-based foods are also high in fat – remember that pastry is usually 50% fat!

Vegetable sticks and dips are a good option but watch out for those fatty dips – one tablespoon of mayonnaise or sour cream dip has around 170 calories and 17g of fat. Go for yoghurt or vegetable dips and vegetable or bean pâté instead – you could save yourself over 100 calories per tablespoon!  Chicken tikka or satay skewers are a great choice but again beware the dips.

Mini sandwiches are a healthy choice but avoid fillings based on mayonnaise. Steer well clear of crisps and dips, as well as salted nuts or else you’ll be prone to water retention, which certainly won’t match your new dress!

So, go ahead – enjoy those Christmas parties AND feel good!!

Why Wait Till Monday To Start Your Diet?

I started my diet on a Friday and was really glad I did as it was so new that it helped me resist all the temptations that are around at the weekend and stick to a sensible eating plan.

It is a great opportunity to plan what you are going to eat healthily over both the weekend and the next week while your willpower is still strong.  You can also make sure that you have healthy snacks and food in stock.

The shops are filled with seemingly irresistible “bargains” and we often start building up the Christmas stash of food from October.  The first half price (or better!) tin of chocolates appears, the one that no Christmas would be complete without, or that box of shortbread that you’d never think of buying the rest of the year, and then each week we buy the next offer.

There’s also present shopping to be fitted in on top of the regular washing, ironing and cleaning chores!  Christmas shopping can be a great cardio exercise. Pounding the stairs of multiple department stores laden with bags is not entirely dissimilar to weighted lunges!

One of the best things I found about starting on Friday was that by Monday I felt lighter already!  This boosted my resolve even further and was a really great encouragement to keep going.  It certainly stopped me from wavering about whether to start or not which would have been my usual downfall on Monday!

So, next time you think about “the diet will start tomorrow” or “I’ll start on Monday” go ahead and try Friday instead.  Why not make this Friday the day the “diet starts tomorrow”?  You’ve still plenty of time to lose a few pounds before Christmas!

On Surviving the Weekend!

In common with a lot of my clients, I usually find the weekend the most challenging time on any weight loss programme.

A different routine, out and about so seeing more temptations, the weekly supermarket shop, visiting friends and relations and anything else that didn’t get done during the week.

Instead of being a recovery break in your working week, the weekend becomes a pressured and stressful rush to fit everything so that you can finally sit down and relax and watch Strictly or X Factor.  If you plan to go out with friends this presents a whole new food challenge to deal with which I’ll cover in another blog.

Apart from the usual things to do, my weekend takes on the additional chore of looking after my horse – known as DIY.  I do try to hack out or school my horse each weekend morning, which gives me a great chance to catch up with my friends at the livery yard while burning calories.  Then it’s mucking out the stable, cleaning tack, filling hay nets and preparing feeds.  At this time of year, with the light fading fast, the horses are ready to come back in from the fields again by 2:30pm so it tends to be a mad rush to fit everything in.

The two main challenges that I face are making sure I drink enough and the additional exercise making me think I’m hungry so wanting to eat more!

The reality is that they are probably one in the same as the brain can’t tell the difference between genuine hunger and thirst.  I always recommend my clients drink a glass of water first if they think they’re hungry as, unless their stomach is actually growling, it’s probably thirst.

In my case, I have to make sure I drink enough water otherwise I get really painful night cramps in my legs!

I was also really pleased when I found some calorie information on the Horse & Hound forum:

Hacking out at walk burns approximately 40 calories per 10 minutes or 240 calories per hour, trotting 75 calories per 10 minutes and cantering 85 calories per 10 minutes. Schooling a horse burns up 70 calories per 10 minutes or 360 calories per hour. Mucking out burns up 80 calories per 10 minutes or 480 calories per hour and even vigorously grooming your horse burns 45 calories in 10 minutes!

The Calorie Control Council – Fit Facts state that the total calories used per hour by a 150 pound person during horse riding were similar to those used during jogging (6mph) and cycling (9mph) (315-480 calories per hour).

So much for all those who think the horse is doing all the work!

Kim’s Decision

So I finally got there!  I decided to get back on track and lose the final 2½ stone (35lbs) that I need to get to a BMI of under 25.  I’ve also decided to “go public” with my goal and share the challenges that I’m sure I’ll face in losing this.  As an essentially private person, and having been particularly sensitive about my weight in the past due to years of yo-yo dieting, doing this blog is a big challenge to me but I believe it will reassure readers that I know what they are going through.

After 20 years of being overweight, always being a “chubby” child and trying just about every diet on the market, I lost 4½ stone and went down 4 dress sizes just over 4 years ago with Herbalife products and have kept it off.  Geoff was being the supportive husband and joined me when I started and, though he didn’t look as if he needed to lose weight, he lost 2 stones of mainly internal body fat but the big difference to him was the boost in his energy levels with optimum nutrition. I found the products gave me the motivation of actually losing weight and my Personal Wellness Coach gave me the support to keep going. It gave me the time to learn and understand more about how and what I had been eating and adjust to different eating patterns as my taste buds, cravings and hunger levels changed.

I really did feel fantastic  – though it took me about 2 years to adjust to my new size and shape and stop shopping for size 20-22 clothes and start buying size 14! The mental adjustment and my self image certainly took longer to change than losing the weight.  I got such positive feedback from everyone who knew me that it was easy to forget that I was still a bit “fluffy” round the middle! Not quite the 15 tog duvet I used to be but probably an 11 rather than a nice light 9 tog!

As I started to have grow my business and give advice on breaking down goals into manageable short and long term chunks, it suddenly dawned on me that I had lost focus completely on my own long term goal and had become comfortable where I was.

Then, being really honest with myself, I had to admit that I was more “uncomfortable” with where I was.  The long cold winter had taken its toll and I suddenly realised that I’d put back on 1 stone since February!

So I’ve started on my quest,  ignoring the fact that Christmas will soon be on us.  I’ve written down my goal and reason why and will keep blogging my story and other useful information as I get going again!