Rachel Dixon, a member of our healthy lifestyle team, talks about using festive food swaps to avoid the guilt that comes with overindulging during the festive season.
We’re in the final month of 2019, and it’s the most wonderful time of the year! The festive season is in full swing, and there are feasts of delicious food awaiting at office parties and family gatherings ahead.
As everyone pulls out the stops in the kitchen to serve me a slice of festive cheer, there’s likely to be an urge to break the healthy eating habits that I’ve spent a considerable amount of building throughout the year. It’s not uncommon. If health habits could talk, there would almost inevitably be a point in the month where I’m ready to tell them to take a hike into the next decade. Giving me leeway to say yes to one, two, three (who’s counting really…) more mince pies.
Do you have a similar dilemma during the festive season? I’ve been assured it’s not unusual to want too much of a good thing as Christmas approaches, even our health practitioners agree! But according to Dietitian, Karen Davies, the key to having the pleasure of food without the guilt is to be mindful but not to stress!
“December is upon us… a time for fun and celebration, however with that comes the pressure of additional calories through extra eating and drinking. Be mindful when choosing from that Christmas buffet or having seconds of Christmas lunch. I’m not suggesting anyone should calorie count over the festive season but a bit of smart damage limitation, that won’t spoil the celebration, may make stepping on the scales in January a bit sweeter!”
That’s why our team are combining their experience to tackle the moments when enjoying a treat suddenly becomes laden with more guilt than it’s worth.
So how can we help?
Throughout the first twelve days of the month the team will share their top festive food swaps to get us through December. Stay on track with the healthy habits you’ve adopted this year using ingredients that taste great without the guilt.
Maybe you haven’t stuck with your health goals and are feeling ready to give it another try? We are all about small, realistic and maintainable lifestyle changes as opposed to drastic diet fads which will only leave us feeling defeated and down when they inevitably don’t stick. And we all know, preparation is key to success.
The festive food swaps are over, but you could keep the festive cheer going! Use the hashtag #EatWellEastSussex to share your moment with us!
Residents of East Sussex could be eligible to join one of our Adult Weight Management courses or access a Health Coach for FREE by heading to our Get Started page:
