How to have a healthy Christmas (within reason!)

It's a time to relax and reward yourself (especially after this year!), so is it even possible to have a healthy Christmas?

Your hormones can take a battering over the Christmas period. In return, they are likely to leave you a few gifts – some extra pounds around your waist, a foul mood and zero energy come January!

The Stress Impact

Let's face it, Christmas is super stressful! You are likely to be running on cortisol and adrenaline, your stress hormones, to keep you going through this time. If you’ve got too much cortisol, it’s going to make you cranky, wired and tired. If you haven’t got enough cortisol, it’s going to be really hard to get through it all (exhausted, over-emotional and anxious).

Either way, stress not only packs on the pounds, especially around your middle but it's going to make you even more tired and cranky!

The carb impact

Confession; I am the last person that can resist mince pies, mulled wine and fizz at Christmas!

But all that sugar and carbs can put you on the blood sugar roller coaster, giving you huge insulin highs and lows, making you exhausted and craving more sugary carbs.

Alcohol is hard to resist this time of year, messing even more with your blood sugar leaving you dehydrated, adding to the body’s stress levels. It also messes with your sleep, making you more tired (and hungry) the next day.

So Christmas can be a disaster for your hormones! And if you’re already challenged in that area (eg going through peri-menopause), the extra damage can almost seem irreversible come January.

BUT if you are bit savvy, there are some ways you can avoid the big carb pile up, have a more healthy Christmas and not have a mountain to climb in January.

How to have a more healthy Christmas

1. Get your nutrients in – Make sure you have at least one healthy meal with lots of veggies, some good protein and some healthy fats to fill you up and give you plenty of nutrients. Should keep you on track and able to handle the odd indulgence. Or you can make a healthy smoothie.
2. Don’t overstock on Christmas food – buy what you need, and keep the treats to a minimum (for kids or guests!). The more temptation in the cupboards the more you’ll indulge.
3. Limit the alcohol – try swapping some (or all) of your usual tipples to non-alcoholic options. There are so many good options these days.
4. Drink plenty of water, especially when drinking alcohol. Try and drink one glass of water between each drink. It will reduce the dehydration and help your liver detoxify.
5. Choose quality over quantity – don’t binge on cheap party food – choose fewer good quality foods and enjoy them.
6. Take your supplements – good quality supplements will make sure you're not nutrient deficient, which can result in imbalances and make your symptoms worse.
7. Stick with the programme – don’t let up on your exercise or classes just because it’s Christmas. Keeping up your muscle mass will help you burn more fat.
8. RELAX – it can be a very stressful time, and when we’re stressed we crave foods high in sugar and carbs, so make sure you schedule in some relaxation – yoga, pilates, meditation, relax tapes, music, walking in nature, reading, Epsom Salt baths – whatever keeps you chilled.
9. Don’t write off the Christmas period and leave it to January to sort out! Classic mistake because when January comes around, the task will be so much bigger than it could have been.

Easier said than done I know, it is Christmas after all – but if you try a few of these tips out, you will have a more healthy Christmas, be looking after your hormones and you might be surprised you can still do up your jeans post the binge season!

Finally have a VERY HAPPY Christmas, and if you need some help getting those hormones back into balance come January, contact us for more info on how we can help.