Tuesday Tip: Tips for Festive Socialising 🥂

This festive season there’s bound to be lots of socialising and If you’re trying to lose fat/weight it can be a challenge to keep things under control. Here are some tips to help reduce those extra cals.

#1 Be realistic

Saying “I’m not going to have any alcohol / desserts at all” isn’t realistic, but perhaps “I’m not going to drink at every Christmas party” might be more doable?

Decide which events are worth relaxing a bit for. One event a week is a good target, so choose the special events and then don’t worry about them, just relax and enjoy having whatever you want to have that day/night.

# Make a plan

If you’ve decided which events to relax at that means there are some events where you will want to be more careful. So you need a plan. First thing to remember is the reason you’re there is to share time with people in your life. Focus on the people and the activities rather than the food and drinks. Ensuring you’ve had something to eat before going to drinks events, or have dinner plans in place for afterwards. If it’s a dinner then just try to make the best possible choices, fill up with veggies and get some protein in, and drink lots of water. Stick to lighter beers, prosecco, white wines, clear spirits with low cal mixers etc and avoid sugar-laden cocktails.

# Plan for problems

Try to think about the possible obstacles in advance. Are buffets your weakness? Are canapes / nibbles your weak point? Have some alternative plans in place; for buffets commit yourself to one plate of satisfying food only. Make a decision before you go not to dip in to the nibbles and ensure you’re not too hungry when you arrive so you’re not starving when they come round. Making an active decision before you even get there will help you to resist them more easily.

You have to be realistic about the situations you’re facing. There’s no point planning on just eating carrot sticks all evening, you will fail, no question. So be smart about your strategy and honest about what you can manage. If you have a friend going with you share your plan with them, they might be keen to help you and give you some moral support – it’s a lot easier to say no to those canapes when you’re both refusing them.

Happy Tuesday 🤗

Xx

Tuesday Tip: Coping with Xmas Stress 🎄

Stress levels can soar at Xmas, with the pressure of expectations, exchange and excess. Here are some tips to help!

#1 Limit spending

Gift buying and entertainment costs can spiral quickly, so make a budget and limit spending by only taking cash on shopping trips. Make 1 financial decision at a time to avoid losing willpower and overspending. Remember your relationships with friends and family are more important than material objects!

#2 Manage expectations

Wanting things to be perfect can lead to more stress. Dinner being late or a less than perfect xmas tree won’t ruin your day – it may even give you fond memories to laugh about in future! Be realistic with children: they don’t need everything on their list! Xmas is about being together, so plan lots of fun family activities to do.

#3 Take time out

Factor in some time out for yourself – a bath, watching a movie, reading or a walk. You will feel better and be less likely to take your stress out on the rest of the family too.

#4 Don’t fall totally off the wagon

Plan, eat well outside events, stay active – check out my article (link below) for more tips. If you do find yourself overindulging just remember 1 day of indulgence won’t make you fat, just get back on track the next day and don’t make it a month!

#5 Go for a walk

Studies show physical activity reduces the brain’s response to stress, even more so with other people (by 26%). So try to fit a walk in to your day even if it means walking to work, or school pick up, or just around the block.

#6 Have fun

Laughter is a fab stress reliever. It releases endorphins, boosts circulation, helps muscles relax and reduces physical symptoms of stress. Make sure you have some fun; whether it’s your favourite movie, jokes with relatives, or a fun activity with friends or family.

At the end of the day remember, its just one day, it doesn’t define you or your life. Your friends and family are there all year round and if things don’t go as planned you can always get together in January or Feb instead 🙂

Happy Tuesday 🤗

xx

More tips here :

How to Survive the Festive Season

Tuesday Tip: The best weights workout 🏋🏼‍♂️

You’ll see lots of people on social media touting their workout as THE best weight training workout. So what really is the best weight training program?

Well, it doesn’t exist. Whilst a lot of people may claim to have the best workout regime for you, if you want to grow muscle tissue or get stronger, there is no clear evidence that any particular workout regime is better than any other and certainly there isn’t one that stands out as the ‘best’.

A recent study presented a review of the largest analysis of resistance training variables. It looked at whether low reps high weight, or higher reps and lower weights etc are better for building muscle strength. It concluded that whilst heavier loads are important for strength, and multiple sets are important for muscle growth, the actual differences between a lot of variables were very small.

Essentially if you’re lifting a reasonably heavy (challenging) weight, for multiple
sets, 2-3 times a week you don’t really need to obsess about the details. It doesn’t matter whether you have push and pull days, or whether you work on the whole body each time, or whether you do 8-12 reps or 15-20 etc. There’s really no need to complicate it. Yes , obviously if you’re a body builder or focused on a very specific weight lifting goal then of course you can fine tune and tweak your program and get into the finer details. But most people don’t lift weights at all and everybody should because it’s important for so many health and well being reasons. And many people shy away from weights because it can seem complicated, scary or overwhelming.

So let’s keep it simple – as long as you’re lifting weights regularly and you find what you’re doing challenging – you’ll be doing just fine! Whether you choose to do it in a gym environment or a class environment (e.g. Bodypump) you’ll reap the benefits.

🤗
Xx