Life

Nutrition with Jane McClenaghan: Have yourself a healthy little Christmas

Nobody's saying you should drink but if you're choosing a Christmas tipple, Prosecco or dry Champagne are least sugary, followed by vodka and soda with a squeeze of lime
Nobody's saying you should drink but if you're choosing a Christmas tipple, Prosecco or dry Champagne are least sugary, followed by vodka and soda with a squeeze of lime Nobody's saying you should drink but if you're choosing a Christmas tipple, Prosecco or dry Champagne are least sugary, followed by vodka and soda with a squeeze of lime

CHRISTMAS is (almost) here. Schools are out, work is winding down and there is a little magic in the air (albeit a safe, socially distanced kind of magic).

Christmas doesn’t have to be a dance between deprivation and over-indulgence. It’s all a question of balance. By balance I don’t mean munching on kale 80 per cent of the time and an entire party platter of sausage rolls the rest. It’s a question of figuring out what Christmas treats you really want to indulge in.

It’s true that Christmas can – if left unchecked – turn into a giant mince pie fest. There’s nothing wrong in that, of course, if that’s what you really want to choose, but there is a way to enjoy the best of the season without feeling like a stuffed turkey come January.

This is going to be a very different Christmas for all of us, and I think it is important to remember that food has a big part to play in our physical health and mental wellbeing. Bingeing on sugar, booze and carbs will leave us feeling low, flat and stressed, but having a plan to keep a bit of balance to your festivities will mean you are looking after yourself and will be less likely to hit the Christmas blues.

So here is a plan to help you keep a little bit of healthy balance to your Christmas this year:

1. Think about the foods you love at Christmas. Rather than eating for the sake of eating, enjoy your favourite Christmas treats. Think about these as ‘may as well’ foods. These are foods you would never normally really consider having but you indulge in over Christmas. Because you are on holiday and they are there for the taking, you’ll happily load them on to your plate – “may as well”. These include all those snacks we tend to pick on – the likes of Quality Street, sausage rolls, crisps, and so on.

Your Christmas will still be great if you focus on the things you really want and not the stuff in between. Try to avoid all these extras that don’t really add anything to the holiday spirit but you kind of slide into. Your body will thank you for it come January.

2. Watch your portion sizes – especially when it comes to fast-release carbs like white potatoes, pastry, breaded items, cakes, biscuits and other sweet things. Enjoy these seasonal treats but remember that a little of what you fancy does you good, a lot of it makes you fat and feeling crap.

3. One of the easiest ways to help your health is not just thinking about what to eat but also when to eat. Fasting is something I often use with clients for all kinds of health reasons and it can be a great way to offset damage over the holidays.

Extended periods of not eating are called ‘intermittent fasting’. When the body fasts, all kinds of magic happens, from accelerated weight loss to balancing your blood sugar levels, cholesterol, and blood pressure. Your body gets the chance to rest and repair in a way that it can never do when you are constantly grazing on food.

The easiest way to fast is to push your breakfast later into the morning, so you have 12-14 hours from your last meal of the day to the first meal of the next day. That’s at least 12 hours of not having any food at all. And for drinks, stick to water, herbal teas and black coffee. Not zero-calorie drinks or tea with milk.

To be clear, I am not talking necessarily about reducing calories but squishing what you do eat into a smaller window.

4. Watch the booze. The best options, when it comes to alcohol, are all those non-creamy, non-sugary drinks. Pretty much in this order: Prosecco or dry Champagne, vodka and soda with a squeeze of lime (I have also tried this with gin – surprisingly nice), dry white or dry rosé or red wine. Gin and tonic has a good amount of sugar thanks to the tonic. Things like dark rum, port, sherry, liqueurs, fruit-juice-based cocktails and spirits with sugary mixers like Coke or lemonade are total sugar bombs (sorry if you are a fan of Bailey’s or Southern Comfort and Coke…).