Damage Control At Christmas.

How do you get through Christmas without gaining weight?

It's not uncommon for people to gain 7kg over the Christmas period.

For most people, Christmas has become a 6 week event, starting in the last week of November, and running right through to the first week of January.

So how are you to navigate through this period without packing on a few too many pounds?

1. Start an exercise routine now, and if you already have one, keep it going.

• With the increase in work lunches, work parties and nights out with friends, its of huge importance to make sure that you burn extra calories through exercise.
• If a social event is scheduled for when you usually train / exercise, then simply reschedule your training for earlier that day. You can make the time.
• Your exercise routine will keep you somewhat honest and accountable when it comes to over-doing it on food / drinks.

2. What is your biggest downfall at Christmas?

• Lets be perfectly honest here, its not dinner and dessert on Christmas & Stephens' Day that does the damage. Its all of the quality street, tins of roses, biscuits, drinks and mince pies that are consumed from late November right through to New Years Day.
• Write down a naughty and nice list and black ball the junk you need to avoid, and give a green light to the treats that are particular to Christmas. For me, that means mince pies and my Mam's Christmas pudding – served with cream on Christmas Day, and then fried on the pan the next morning... with more cream!

3. Prioritise your Christmas parties and break the rules.

• Write a list of your parties / nights outs / dinners and put a mark beside the ones that mean the most to you.
• For me, that means a night out with the lads coming up to Christmas, drinks with my wife in town on the 24th, an additional night out with my brother somewhere along the way, and of course, Christmas and Stephens' Day dinner.

4. Everything in between is good and healthy.

• If you're going out to a Christmas party don't right off the entire day. Make good choices for breakfast and lunch. The following day, start off on the right note and eat a good breakfast, followed up by some light – moderate exercise.
• Just because you have a “session” coming up doesnt mean you should go awol for days.
• Minimise damage by sticking to healthy options with everything in between.

5. Set a plan in place for January.

• If you've gained weight over Christmas, don't put your health and fitness plans on hold until February, you'll only do more damage and you'll be starting off in worse condition.
• Commit to a plan before the madness begins so when January comes, you cant hold off or back out.