Weight-loss worries at Christmas: Simple ways to stay balanced

I know that a lot of my clients get worried about weight-loss during the festive period. It's understandable as it's harder to exercise with darker nights, there's more planning and organisation to do, and we're surrounded by food and drink.

You can get through this, though. Here are a few tips that I share with clients.

Gentle ways to move more in winter

How you feel will influence what you eat and drink. For most of us, we know we need some exercise and fresh air to feel better. We might not have time for the gym three times a week, but replacing it with a walk each day and a bit of stretching can make all the difference.

Easy “reset meals” for busy days

What are a couple of meals that are easy for you to get balance, and easy to cook? They are likely ones you've already found useful for weight-loss.

You're looking for something that is high in protein (eggs, fish, prawns, chicken, lean meat, tofu or beans) and contains fibre and colourful vegetables. Examples could be vegetable omelettes, chilli con carne (cook a batch and freeze) with a bag salad, or chicken thighs and a vegetable tray bake with your favourite spices.   

Managing tempting foods at home or work

I don’t know about you, but if I see tasty food, then I want to eat it! Strategies that my clients and I find useful include keeping treat food out of sight. Rather than having the biscuit tin on the counter, have it in a cupboard at the back and have some obstacles like fruit bowls, nuts and the kettle on route.  

Ways to distract yourself

In the office, can you plan your route so you don’t walk past the treats? Can you ask for treats to be harder to access? Make sure you’re not hungry when you walk past. If you want one, then add it on to your lunch as dessert, the carbohydrates in your treat added to a decent meal of protein, fibre and healthy fats is likely to be less impactful than a mid-afternoon cake on its own.

Taking control of food environments

Have you ever thought about at what point you influence what you eat and where you can take control?

• It could be that you do all the shopping and cooking. You decide what’s in the house, and your action is to plan for healthy meals before you shop. 
• If you’re going to a friend's for dinner, then can you take a healthy side or a healthier dessert and say you were keen to try a recipe or had seen it in a magazine? Then there is no reason to mention weight-loss, because we know that some people try to sabotage our efforts by offering extra foods.
• If you have children to cater for or a partner who always wants potatoes and pasta, then what meals can you do? For example, a fish pie means you could just put less potato onto your plate when you serve it and add some green vegetables.

Planning ahead for festive meals and nights out

If you have a night out where you will drink or eat richer food, then planning can help you stay on track. 

• If you're choosing from a menu, then look for a starter based on protein or fibre - for example, prawns, salad, non-starch vegetables, olives or chicken. This helps keep your blood sugar levels balanced.
• Make sure you have a balanced day before you go out, which means getting some protein in each meal. Try some nuts, hummus or a protein powder (if you use it) before going out
• Don't skip food because you're eating out that evening; arriving hungry won't help weight-loss goals. What you could do, though, is only have carbohydrates in your evening meal.
• Plan what you will eat the day after because disturbed sleep, late nights and alcohol affect your food choices the next day.  
• Write down what you're going to have for the next seven days. If you repeat some meals, then that is fine, we need simplicity and ease at this time of year! 

These suggestions are to help us manage blood sugar levels. Levels will rise when we eat and then fall. The type of food, our activity levels and predisposition can all affect how rapidly these rises and falls happen.  This may then influence our eating habits, make us crave food, energise or deplete us and cause us to feel motivated to exercise or not.

Finding your balance

If you can maintain balance across the day, then you’re more likely to have resilience to stick to your goals, and when you do have a celebration, you can enjoy it and quickly get back on track. ‘Balance’ can seem like a vague word, but it is used a lot in nutrition.

When you work one-to-one with a professional, you find out what your balance needs to look like, and then they help you with tips to adjust based on all the different scenarios you probably have.