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I know there’s probably loads of these kinds of posts on blogs at the moment but I really wanted to write my own ‘keeping healthy over the festive period’ post as in the past I have struggled with binging at this time of year.

Christmas is a time of indulgence. Delicious but not so healthy food and drink is every where. In the past I have really taken advantage of being able to eat and drink what I want and this has often resulted in some serious binges.

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Now at the end of the day it is Christmas, the last thing you want to do is not eat chocolate or enjoy your food! However, I do think there is a balance between a bit of controlled festive indulgence and all out f**k it lets just eat everything in site.

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I also know that if I just mindlessly stuff my face I will not feel good about myself and will feel guilty, bloated and generally crappy. So here are my plans for enjoying the festive season as healthily as possible:

• Continue to meal plan: I know that meal planning isn’t for everyone but for me its a really useful way of not going over the top, avoiding food waste and keeping myself generally organised. I’m going to continue to meal plan to help ensure that my meals are still fairly well balanced and so I don’t end up eating chocolate for breakfast, cheese and crackers for lunch and Christmas cake for dinner! Well at least not everyday ;-)
• Decide what you want to indulge in: Instead of mindless eating I’m going to decide what treats I’m going to indulge in and shop accordingly (see next point). At the moment I’m thinking chocolate (obviously), cheese, wholemeal bagels, chips and salsa, ice cream, red wine and home made baked goods like cookies and scones.
• Go shopping with a list and stick to it: In the past me and the hubby have done our Christmas shop and basically just filled the trolley full of crap. This Christmas I shall be shopping with a plan – i.e. just to buy the goodies I know I really fancy.
• Continue to exercise: I know that the temptation is to sit on your arse and eat sweets but I know how much better I’ll feel if I get moving! My gym closes between Christmas and New Year so I’ll be using my DVD’s plus the resources in this post for some home workouts.
• January Detox: I’m already planning a bit of a January detox. I actually think our bodies are pretty effective at detoxifying themselves without having to ‘do’ a detox however, a detox for me is just as much mental as physical, I feel miles better making that special effort to eat more healthily for a few weeks. I’m planning to eat vegan and as unprocessed as possible so it will be a nice little challenge for me at the same time!

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What are your plans for Christmas indulgence? Are you happy to just go for it or do you make an effort to keep things balanced? Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with enjoying your food at Christmas time, I just know that for me, I need to have a game plan to ensure I don’t end up binging. What are your favourite Christmas treat foods? I love my cheese!

I’ve had a really good day, work is a bit more relaxed this time of year. I started the day with my usual Davina superbody pump DVD weights based workout for 45 minutes and then made a tasty breakfast:

Brown puffed rice with two chopped plums, chopped pear, coconut milk, desiccated coconut and a few dried cranberries, yum!

Lunch was last nights dinners leftovers – haricot beans with olives, red onion, cucumber, carrot, spinach and cos lettuce. I also had a couple of sliced kiwi:

Mid afternoon I snacked on more silken vanilla cinnamon tofu pudding. I headed home and did my hour long Yogalates DVD. I felt so chilled out after doing it! Dinner was one of my roasted veg and sunflower seed patties fried in coconut oil in a wholemeal pitta with carrot fries and cavolo nero sautéed in coconut oil topped with shoyu and mixed seeds plus ketchup for dipping:

Oh so good! Desert was two sliced apples and a frozen chocolate avocado cup:

This was the last one in the freezer, I’m going to have to make more!

I’m also so glad the weekend is almost here, I’m looking forward to having the opportunity to get a few items on my to do list ticked off, as well as getting to see my friends and family and visit the Christmas market in Newcastle. Hope your all having great week! :-)