The average person consumes 6,000 calories on Christmas Day, three times the recommended daily amount for women. But last year, when I looked at how much food I had in my fridge and cupboard after doing my big shop on 20 December, I couldn't help but think that would just be the tip of the iceberg.
A recent poll found that one in five of us starts boozing at breakfast time on 25 December (I'm among them) and with parties starting weeks before the big day itself, it's likely many of us will consume thousands of extra calories over the Christmas period.
I decided to keep track of my intake and do a step count for seven days up to and including Boxing Day, to see how much I ate and how much weight I put on. Here's how I got on.
DAY 1: DECEMBER 20
I started off as usual with cereal, then a healthy soup for lunch and a green smoothie. But my good intentions didn’t last long and I was soon tucking into a box of Cadbury Heroes with a can of Coke. It went further downhill when I went to a Christmas party and ate a rich three-course meal, with lots of booze, including three pints of beer. I got in late and had a slice of toast and some crisps. I totalled up I’d had 4,000 calories during the day, double what I’d normally have, and it’s only 20 December.
Step count: 11,000
Total calories: 4,098
I started off as usual with cereal, then a healthy soup for lunch and a green smoothie. But my good intentions didn’t last long and I was soon tucking into a box of Cadbury Heroes with a can of Coke. It went further downhill when I went to a Christmas party and ate a rich three-course meal, with lots of booze, including three pints of beer. I got in late and had a slice of toast and some crisps. I totalled up I’d had 4,000 calories during the day, double what I’d normally have, and it’s only 20 December.
Step count: 11,000
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