So far we’ve covered our two top tips for staying in shape over the holiday season. They were goal setting and creating accountability. Given Christmas is almost upon us, today’s article will be a double header, covering both Tip #3 and Tip #4. The reason I wanted to write these posts in the first place is that so many of the articles you read on weightloss are just garbage; more often than not they’re outdated and ineffective. Through these articles I want to challenge the way you think about diet and exercise so you can finally take control over your weight. The 5 tips that I’m giving you are realistic, useful strategies that will make a meaningful difference on your waistline come January. I hope todays tips live up to this vision.

Tip #3 – Use the all or nothing principle

If we’re going to be bad, we may as well make the most of it. Have you heard of the term cheat day? It refers to eating clean 6 days a week and then eating whatever you want on the 7^th day (the ‘cheat day’). I recommend you take this approach over Christmas. Eat healthy over the Christmas period when you can; but when you foresee an occasion that may make it difficult to eat healthy then just enjoy it and write it off as a cheat day. Make an active choice to eat whatever you want on your cheat day then get back on the wagon for the rest of the week. Over Christmas you might find you need to have a couple of cheat days, but then on your non-cheat days make sure you keep it completely clean. That means no leftovers, no chocolates, no alcohol. The moment we go easy on ourselves on our clean days, is the moment that it’s all over. Soon enough every day starts looking like a cheat day and once again you’re 5 kg’s heavier come January 1.

What to do instead: plan out your week now, cheat days and clean days. Cheat days mean you can eat whatever you want, no worry, no guilt, just pure enjoyment. Clean days on the other hand should be 100% strict; when someone at work offers you a chocolate, politely decline. I want you to get a piece of paper and mark out a grid for each day of the week. Once you’ve decided which days will be the hardest to stick to clean eating, label them as cheat days and the rest as clean. Underneath, write down what you’ll be including/avoiding on your clean days. And lastly, stick it up on your fridge and have the strength to stick to your plan.

Tip #4 – Keep it clean

We’re talking about alcohol now. Christmas is a time for celebration and for most of us that means enjoying a drink. Should you try to limit how much you drink? Well yes, and no. More so, no. The reason is, that it’s just not realistic or achievable; and it’ll most likely just lead to failure. So instead let’s look at how we can enjoy a drink and minimise the insult to your waistline. The best way to do this is to drink clean.

Choose lower carb options and choose lower toxin options.

The perfect drink – the NorCal Margarita – tequila, mineral water and a dash of lime. Tequila comes up trumps as one of the cleanest and lowest calorie options. Mineral water is the zero calorie mixer of choice and the lime helps blunt your insulin response. Of course I’m sure most people would rather not drink at all rather than downing tequila all night, in which case vodka, lime and soda is a good alternative. And if you’re desperate for something sweet, a less good option is vodka and diet coke. Now if you want to be super responsible how about adding in a pre-drink workout (see Tip #2) and try taking a B complex and some activated charcoal to minimise the hangover in the morning. Because we all know how bad a raging hangover can be for healthy eating!

So that’s it for today, I hope you’ve enjoyed the double header. What I want you to understand is that staying healthy over the holiday season doesn’t have to mean being boring, it’s all about being smart and being in control of your actions. In the last post of this series I’m going to cover what is quite possibly the most important key to managing your weight over this holiday season. And guess what, it has nothing to do with what you’re eating or drinking. Stay tuned for this one later in the week.