I hope you have enjoyed the previous tips and they have given you lots of ways to enjoy the festive season without piling on the pounds.

This is a chance for socialising with family, friends and colleagues and to share some special time with those we choose to spend our life with.  Enjoy the time and know you don’t have to eat and drink to enjoy someone’s company or to make a difference to someone’s day.

What would make your occasion more fun?  I wonder how much more we would enjoy ourselves if we put as much focus on creating fun and laugher as we do on planning a special meal. Even as I write this I’m thinking planning the meal takes almost all the focus.

For example – if you are going out for a meal with young children pop some quiet table puzzles in your bag to keep them entertained while they wait for their meal.  For a gathering with the adults, dig out some favourite photos and enjoy some time down memory lane.  Maybe ask everyone to bring along their favourite photo of times you have shared together.

And finally, remember to enjoy every food you choose to eat, knowing it is fuelling your body as well as tasting divine.

Wishing you a fun and happy festive season,

Until next time,
Linda

Post from: Lose Weight UK

Tip 10 – Have fun!

What do you do if someone offers you something saying ‘I bought/made it especially for you’?

We all like to be polite and often this means having something when we really don’t want or need.

Whilst the person may have made it especially for you, perhaps because they know it’s your favourite, but would they really want you to be uncomfortable if you ate it? 

To understand your response to this question it is useful to think about how you react if you offer someone something and they decline.  If you would feel annoyed or that they were ungrateful then it is more likely you will feel bad if you decline something from others.  By all means offer your friends and guests anything at all, but be sure you are completely comfortable if they decline and don’t try to persuade them otherwise. Maybe suggest they take one for later when they can enjoy it, but again if they decline then accept their decision and be happy to change the subject. Instead enjoy your time with them.

When this happens to you practice your standard reply, ‘How kind of you, I’m not hungry right now so would you mind if I took some home so I can eat it when I will really enjoy it?’ By saying something like this it would be hard for someone to pressure you.  And if they try to persuade you just keep repeating ‘No thanks, I’m not hungry right now’.  If you do take something for later, you could always follow it up with a message telling them how much you enjoyed it.

Wishing you a fun and happy festive season,

Until next time,
Linda

Post from: Lose Weight UK

Tip 9 – No thanks, I’m not hungry right now!

Remember:  you don’t have to eat every time someone offers you something. 

Food is your fuel.  As far as your body is concerned the only reason you eat is to provide your body with the energy it needs to live.  It uses a certain amount just to exist so even when you sleep you use energy to keep your heart beating and repair your cells etc. And of course we use much more energy when we are awake and moving about more, even thinking uses energy.

You wouldn’t fill up your car with petrol and then stop at every garage en route just because it’s there!

Over the next few weeks you will be offered food at various times.  Remember you don’t have to accept everything you are offered.  Think if you are hungry.  If not, you don’t need food and any you eat will be stored as fat. 

This is the time of year when it seems everyone has food or sweets to tempt you. I’d like you to think of it differently.  At present you are tempted – perhaps because of the taste, or a treat, or because someone has been kind enough to offer you something. How tempted would you be if I offered you an extra inch on your waist?  Go on, you know you want one really!  Its Christmas after all, one extra inch won’t hurt will it! If your body could choose the food it had what do you think it would choose?  At present your mind chooses your food, based on all manner of experiences you have had in your life.  However if you only ate really good food, the majority healthy and some ‘fun’ food but the perfect amount for your body, you needn’t feel deprived.

Practice, practice, practice – saying ‘No thank you, I’m not hungry right now’. Practice saying the words often, in the mirror, when waiting at traffic lights, or when taking a shower.  The more you practice the easier it will be for the words to flow out without you even thinking about it.

Wishing you a fun and happy festive season,

Until next time,
Linda

Post from: Lose Weight UK

Tip 8 – Don’t eat every time you are offered something

Balance a big meal, move your body more.  As we talked about in Tip 2, you can eat more now and again as long as you balance this with either eating less in the days before or moving your body more to use up the extra energy created from the extra food and drink.

Now you can do this in various ways, and by having fun too.  There may be an opportunity to ‘dance the night away’.  Great fun, can you stay on the dance floor all night?  The other good thing is you will be less likely to continue to eat or drink as much.  And, you’ll probably get thirsty which is a good time to grab a glass of water.

The day after, why not go for a walk – this can also help clear your head if you are feeling a little delicate.  And if you have a dog they’ll love you for it too.

The choice is endless – find something that is fun for you and commit to doing it the day after your gathering, go swimming, do yoga, play on Wii fit, anything that gets that extra fuel consumed and burned off.

And finally remember maintaining your body weight is only a matter of simple maths.  What you consume will either be used as energy or stored as fat.  So if you eat more, you need to do more or it stores as fat.  So be kind to yourself, and remember, nothing tastes as good as being slim feels. Or put another way, nothing tastes so good it’s worth being fat for.

How will you move your body to balance any additional food and drink consumed?

Wishing you a fun and happy festive season,

Until next time,
Linda

Post from: Lose Weight UK

Tip 7 – Move your body more

Sometimes when eating at family and friends there are a variety of sizes of plates as often there are not enough plates to go around so they bring out various ones.  This is an ideal opportunity to use a smaller plate which helps the mind feel satisfied with less food.

My clients tell me that using a smaller plate is one of the useful tips they use regularly. We tend to fill our plate with food so it stands to reason that with a smaller plate we will serve up less food than if we used a larger plate. 

Also when eating with others we tend to focus on the occasion and not on the food so we eat ‘unconsciously’.  That is we eat and talk, eat and talk, and keep eating until the food is all gone from our plate.  By choosing a smaller plate when the food is eaten we then have a chance to connect with the body to decide if we need more.

This is a tip I encourage you to take up every day.  Why not buy yourself a special plate.  Most departments sell dinner services individually and most of these have a plate that is between a dinner plate and a tea plate in size.  This is ideal for everyday use. I’ve been doing this for years and now when I use a ‘normal’ size plate it looks huge so I easily know how much food to select.

Wishing you a fun and happy festive season,

Until next time,
Linda

Post from: Lose Weight UK

Tip 6 – Choose a smaller plate

Where there is a buffet, scan all the food first to see your favourites and don’t be tempted to have a little of everything – you may find your plate is full before you get to your absolute favourites.

If you really like sausage rolls, then decide which ones are your favourites. Do you like home cooked pastry, puff pastry, frozen mass produced ones or ones made with organic butchers sausage meat. I’m not a great lover of sausage rolls but I only eat ones that have been homemade with puff pastry and lots of sausage meat and only then when they are straight out of the oven.  Don’t compromise, only select a sausage roll it if meets your own standards.  You deserve to really enjoy each mouthful of food you choose to eat, so if you take a mouthful and it doesn’t wow you, leave it for something tastier.

If you think of each food in this way you will know ahead of time what you are likely to choose from the selection on offer.  Buffets vary considerably and some can be full of very unhealthy foods like deep fried goujons etc., and lots of thick pastry so having already thought about it you will find it easier to make your selection.

Before making your selection from the buffet, take a walk along and notice what there is. Don’t take one of everything, save your selections for the things you really love. How lovely to have a selection of your favourite foods, or ones you don’t get to have very often.  Resist the temptation to pile up your plate, instead make a considered selection of the right amount of food for your body. 

And finally, don’t go back for second helpings, unless you have ‘tuned in to your body’ and know you are still hungry and above all don’t hover around the buffet table eating without a plate. You will be much more likely to overeat.

Wishing you a fun and happy festive season,

Until next time,
Linda

Post from: Lose Weight UK

Tip 5 – Be very selective at the buffet table

Drink plenty of water.  This should be a habit all year round but during the festive season where there is potential to over indulge, water is even more important to help flush the toxins from the body.

Depending where you read, the body is made up of 70-75% water and the brain 80-85% water, so it is important to drink plenty of water to keep your body hydrated.  Most people know that alcohol de-hydrates the body and it is partly this de-hydration that is responsible for the hangover headache that many suffer from after consuming alcohol.  After overindulging, the body goes into overdrive to try to process the extra food and drink, and needs more water to flush out the toxins.

By drinking water during the meal, you will feel fuller sooner and will limit the amount you overeat. And drinking a glass of water between each alcoholic drink will help your body process the alcohol and leave you less likely to suffer with a hangover the next day.

Remember, the average person needs 8 glasses of water per day – and when you are drinking alcohol or exercising, considerably more.

Also remember to take a glass of water to bed with you and sip some at any time you wake during the night.

For more information about the importance of water for the body have a look at this book.

Wishing you a fun and happy festive season,

Until next time,
Linda

Post from: Lose Weight UK

Tip 4 – Drink plenty of water

Remember to think ahead – if you are eating out later, have a small snack for lunch.  If you love dessert then hold back on the chips/potatoes/rice/pasta/bread that fills you up.  Perhaps share a dessert with a friend, this way you can have a taste of it but without over-filling.  Or maybe consider ordering a starter as a main course so you have room for dessert. Eat slowly and really enjoy your food.  Too often we eat too quickly. It’s such a shame that we look forward to wonderfully prepared food and then eat it almost without noticing it that much.

This possibly sounds like common sense, but thinking ahead can go beyond the current day.  Our body gains weight if we consistently take in more fuel than our body needs for energy.  Over-indulging on one day won’t make a great deal of difference.  It’s the on-going over-eating that causes weight gain.

Now, I don’t count calories or suggest counting calories but most people have an idea of whether something is high calorie or low calorie, so for the purposes of this post I use the term calorie to demonstrate the point I’m making.

If you know ahead of time that you will be having a richer meal and alcohol, plan in the days leading up to it to eat healthier options and fill up on low calorie foods like fruit and chopped veggies, limit the amount of carbohydrates you eat, and drink plenty of water.  Remember it’s your overall food intake that matters, so if your body requires around 2000 calories per day to provide all your energy requirements, you could consume 1800 calories for 6 days, and have a more indulgent day of 3000 and you would maintain your weight.

And remember, it’s much easier to have your healthy days before your social event as it’s harder to get motivated when you already feel overweight and the scales confirm it.

And finally: Don’t weigh yourself the day after your bigger meal, it’s better to allow your body to finish processing the food.  Wait a couple of days otherwise you will be weighing food in your system which hasn’t necessarily turned to fat at that point.

Wishing you a peaceful festive season,

Until next time,
Linda

Post from: Lose Weight UK

Tip 3 – Think ahead

If you have several Christmas parties and get-togethers to attend, follow the 10 tips on that day, and between events give your body some well-earned nutrition in the form of fresh juices, fruit and veggies and cutting right back on the high calorie foods/drinks.

Often we throw caution to the wind in December and give ourselves permission to take up all invitations and also to eat anything that comes our way in between. Everywhere you go, people are offering you chocolates or mince pies. Often there are chocolates on the counter in shops, or around the workplace. When you drop off presents to friends and family and are offered mince pies. Or, you do your shopping and stop for an extra-large cappuccino with lashings of cream on top, because you deserve it.

But, do you really deserve an extra-large waist as a reward for all the stress leading up to Christmas? Do you deserve an extra layer of ‘muffin top’ as a reminder of getting together with friends and family?

I think you deserve more than that. Of course you can accept any invitations to meet up and have fun with those you care about most. However, remember the fuel your body needs during this time is pretty similar to the rest of the year. So instead of thinking you’ll leave it all to chance and worry about it after Christmas, begin by thinking ‘How can I be kind to myself’?

On days when you are socialising, really enjoy the food you choose to eat, savour each mouthful, and stop when you are satisfied. On days in between, choose lighter/healthier options and snack on plenty of fresh fruit and drink lots of water.

When you are socialising later in the day/evening, try to limit your food during the day to healthier options.

And finally, Practice, practice, practice: saying ‘No thanks, I’m not hungry right now’. Say this to yourself often, and it will be so natural to say it when really needed.

Wishing you a peaceful festive season,

Until next time,
Linda

Post from: Lose Weight UK

Tip 2 – Between gatherings, give your body some well-earned nutrition.

During December if you feel you will be tempted by all the food and drink on offer maybe it’s time to accept there are additional things to tempt you and aim to maintain your weight rather than try to lose weight at this time.

If you do overeat at any stage really notice what it feels like.  The feeling of fullness, perhaps to the point of nausea. The heaviness in your stomach as you try to sleep at night. Feeling still groggy and full the next morning.  Remember each detail of the overfull feeling.  And then anchor that feeling by squeezing together your thumb and a finger.

Before you go out to another meal, squeeze your thumb and finger together again and remember the overfull feeling once more. Do you really want to feel like that again?

Turn your focus to eating food your don’t get to have very often and savour each mouthful. Really enjoy the taste and texture. We have the feeling of enjoying food most, when we are the most hungry. As you continue to eat your hunger is being satisfied and the enjoyment reduces.  Have you ever noticed that the food doesn’t taste quite as good when you are trying to empty your plate? This is a clear sign from your body that you have had enough.

Enjoy all the festivities and be kind to yourself by not overeating. More tips in the next few days.

Until next time
Linda

Post from: Lose Weight UK

Aim to maintain your weight during December and give yourself a break.