This Christmas, No More Stuffing!

Every year, the holidays can be a great time to meet up with friends and family, to bond over traditional rituals and make new ones with your beloved. But it can also be a time for unhealthy indulgence in treats that will pile on the pounds and undo all your efforts to stay on track. This time, how about we let you in on some simple hacks to prevent this scenario? Here are our tips to make Christmas a happy occasion with no regrets to look back on, only happy memories

- Simona Terron

Think Christmas and all one pictures is piles of cookies, plenty of creamy eggnog and of course, stuffed turkey, roasted chicken, a glazed ham or oodles of buttery mashed potatoes and gravy. Of course, we’re not even going to start on the assorted sweets that every family prides itself on; some with recipes that date back several generations. But what happens when you’re pregnant and trying to eat smart? Or if you’re a new mom and attempting to shed the baby weight? Or even if you just about barely manage to stay on top of your fitness routine and healthy diet with very young kids? Christmas can throw all your carefully-charted habits and sensible regimen out of whack with disastrous results.

Don’t set yourself up for disappointment. We know some simple hacks that you can employ to ensure that you ring in the New Year with the same infectious enthusiasm and determination that you’ve sported before Christmas rolled around.

BITE-SIZED EVERYTHING

The key to keeping things under control is to go for small, easy to handle, bitesized servings at the start and the end of the meal. So that means appetisers and desserts should be kept tiny, and relatively simple. For example, why not place trays of smoked salmon, with a tiny dollop of sour cream and some dill on rice crackers? Small can be stylish too! But you don’t have to break the bank because eggs are just as handy.