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It’s the silly season once again, with lots of Christmas parties and summer holidays on the agenda. Does this time of year tend to throw your good eating habits and exercise regime out of the window? Pre-Christmas parties more often than not come with an abundance of food: chips, sausage rolls, deep fried snacks, BBQed sausages, decadent desserts, chocolate and, of course, plenty of alcohol. On the big day, the mouth-watering stuffed turkey awaits you, smothered in gravy, roast potatoes and cheese-sauced-vegetables, followed by countless helpings of trifle, pavlova, ice-cream with brandy snaps and many other delectable delights.
This sneak preview of tasty food may conjurer up images of pre-Xmas starvation plans and endless “post-Xmas payment” exercising plans. Well, it doesn’t have to be like that!
This Christmas try to set a goal of maintaining that ‘balance’ you have achieved throughout the year, while still enjoying the delicious food.
Below are some general low fat reinforcement guidelines when putting on, or when attending a social gathering:
large handful chips, 1/4 cup cream cheese dip: ~466Cal
large handful rice crackers, 1/4 cup salsa: ~200Cal
2 cups chopped, lightly steamed vegetables
(celery, carrots, cauliflower, courgette…),
1/4 cup hummus and yoghurt based dip:~160Cal
Two 50g sausage rolls: ~476 Cal
Two 60g Lean Thai chicken kebabs: ~200Cal
Two 60g low fat spicy beef kebabs: ~209Cal
Large handful potato / cheese crisps: ~253 Cal
Pretzels (1 cup rings: 50g): ~184 Cal
A generous helping of dinner will provide you with the following calories.
6 slices roasted turkey+ 1/2 cup gravy: 949Cal
4 medium roast potatoes: 400Cal
1 cup cauliflower, 1/2 cup cheese sauce: 278Cal
1 large slice Xmas pudding: 836Cal
1 large slice trifle:
2 glasses dry white wine: 178Cal
Total calories:
If this meal is reduced to 3 slices turkey, 1/4 cup gravy, 2 medium potatoes, 1 cup cauliflower, 1 cup carrots added, 1 cup green beans added -no cheese sauce, a small slice of Xmas pudding and trifle, the same amount of wine, the total calories amounts to
While this is still a large number of calories, it is half of what would have been consumed.
Don’t forget that the ‘basics’ still apply during the holiday season. ‘5+ a day’ fruit and veggie servings are not reduced just so that you can sneak extra trifle at their expense. The minimum 8 cups of fluid a day guideline does not suddenly become 8 cups of beer or wine a day. Remember to drink plenty more than 8 cups of water when consuming alcohol and when in the sun. This guideline is aside from that consumed during exercise.
To prevent those excess kilos from stacking on too rapidly, while still enjoying your xmas food, you’ll need to burn off more calories through exercise. And I mean , in addition to your current training regime.
So to your regular training, add in some incidental activity:
Walk or run with your dog on the beach
At BBQs or on the beach, start a game of touch, volleyball or cricket with friends or family
Swim. Instead of going for a ‘dip’, go for a longer swim. If you don’t want to venture too deep, swim across the length of the beach.
Try a new summer sport like surfing, windsurfing, kayaking or even para-surfing.
Do not procrastinate! Try to exercise at the start of each day. Once you’ve sat down to a BBQ, a few wines / beers and a feast, it becomes a lot more difficult to motivate yourself to offset those food calories with exercise.
Remember to keep the calorie intake under control over the xmas season. Try not to add those extra kilograms to your body as it may make your running just a little bit harder and . So do that extra bit of ‘incidental exercise’ and most importantly have plenty of fun and enjoy the holiday season!
Caryn can be contacted by:
E-mail: carynz@xtra.co.nz
Mobile : (021) 422 911
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