Christmas Control – Day 12 of 12

Hey Lookers

Welcome to Day 12 and what is also the final day of my ” My 12 Days of Christmas” Series.  So I wanted to finish my series with some practical advice and a challenge that a lot of people are faced with over Christmas….over indulging. At the end of this post I have shared ‘My Top 12 Tips to Take Control’

Temptations Everywhere

Christmas time is typically a time (a full month) when we over indulge as we are entertaining more, going out and drinking, meeting family and friends for lunch, dinners and treats as well as lots and lots of shopping that incorporate many Christmas inspired coffee breaks in between. Basically the temptations are EVERYWHERE… and its the time of year we easily give ourselves permission to indulge since ‘it is Christmas time after all’ then we suffer the consequences after. You need a very strong will power to resist.

So I am sharing what I am going to do to try to resist and ‘Take Control’ where I can to try to at least limit the over indulging, but at the same time enjoy the festivities. So it’s really about moderation and trying not to make a ‘pig’ of myself and eating just for the sake of it or because the tin of sweets is beside me. It’s about saying no to those blase / not even knowing decisions we make about putting something into our months.

So you might ask why I am taking this approach?

The reason I am determined to follow this is after completing my 5 week fitness challenge with Tara Grimes Fitness.  And I might add was the best thing I did in a long time. So just you give you a bit of background on it it to being with, but a full post will come in the new year giving much more info on the challenge.

I had been doing my own fitness workouts and trying to eat healthy for a long time, but was not seeing much results. I was going up and down in weight, fitting into clothes then not…it was all getting very frustrating. The hardest thing for me was having the discipline to say no to certain foods and eating smaller portions, as I have a very big appetite, I absolutely adore my food. Then making the whole thing harder was all the travelling I do for my job, as you are so out of routine, which is one of the downsides off travel, and its so so hard to eat well when you are away.

Results at Last

So without really looking for any Fitness challenge, I was scrolling through Facebook one Sunday evening  and I spotted a fitness program that was due to start the following day!!. My instinct told me to make contact anyway to see if there were any free spaces. Sure enough there was one place left on the Tuesday session, so it was ‘meant to be’ ( i am a great believer in that). So 5 weeks ago I started the prorgamme and loved every session and more importantly I started to see results which was even better and kept me motivated. Last Thursday was my final session and I am so happy to say over the 5 weeks I lost 5 pounds and lost a total of 8 inches of my body fat… so it was a good result. I feel so much better in my clothes and even more important  my mind feels much better!! I am going to do another full post dedicated to this programme and tell you much more about what we did and the eating plan, but this is just to out you in the picture for now.

So after coming this far I am pretty determined not to undo all the good work over the next few weeks.. so what I have below is a list of some things I am committed to do over the festive period to help me limit the damage and stay in control.

Top Tips to Take Control this Christmas

1. Try to commit to 20 mins of exercise every day, a good brisk walk or a HIT session. Aim to do first thing in the morning then it is done and its only 20 mins and the feelgood factor lasts with you all day, plus your less inclined to indulge.

2. Join Tara Grimes ’12 Days of Christmas Damage Control Group’ Facebook page that focuses on exactly ‘Limiting the Damage’  to help keep you on track and get motivated by others (see link at the end)

3. Get your Fit Bit back out. I got one for Christmas last year and wore it for all of 3 months, but I am going to get it back on and this will encourage me to keep moving.

4. Drink lots of water and lemon, buy yourself a nice water bottle, that you keep with you all the time

5. If your meeting friends, why not suggest you go for a walk and enjoy a coffee after if you want

6. Need something sweet, I always keep a bar of dark chocolate in my bag and then if I crave a dessert or a sweet bite, when I am out for lunch, dinner or coffee, I take this and its better than indulging in a large Christmas pudding or mince pie.

7. Try to introduce some herbal teas like detox tea or green tea and replace for a coffee or Christmas Latte.

8. Keep other snacks in your bag and car for times when you feel peckish – nuts and some fruit.

9. Prepare some nice Winter soups and fill up on them at lunch time when you are home or have a bowl before you go out for something to eat, so you don’t feel as hungry

10. Body brush every morning to held rid the body of toxins, from all the excess food and alcohol consumed. This link explains the benefits and ‘how to’ more.

11. Be mindful when you eat, so if you decide to eat something be aware that you are actually eating it, eat at the table, take time to chew it and  really savour and ‘enjoy’ it, that way you might eat less are you are more aware of it.

12. If you are enjoying treats, take a small amount and put into a bowl and out the remaining ‘Out of Sight’ to avoid the temptation to put your hand back in and take seconds.

Useful Links

Tara Grimes Fitness

Tara’s 12 Days of Christmas Damage Control Group 

So that is my final day of ‘My 12 Days of Christmas’ and I really hope you have enjoyed it, as well as got some inspiration and useful information from the series.

I will do a summary of all tomorrow as a wrap up and easy guide to view all.

Thanks for all the support, comments, likes and shares throughout, it really is appreciated.

Elaine xx