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Festive Survival (How not to let your waist expand over christmas and New Year)

Most people over the festive period will put on between 7 and 12 lbs. That's now until new year. Its no wonder people make resolutions for new year. But why wait till new year?! Get yourself started now and prevent putting on the pounds over Christmas with these tips:

-before you go out on the staff do or with friends plan how many drinks you are going to have. This way when you get to the target amount you know you should stop, if you go further start thinking about your waist and those extra pounds!

-don't go to a party on an empty stomach. Eat proteins beforehand such as chicken or cottage cheese. This way you will feel fuller and satisfied for much longer and wont pig out while you're at the party.

-don't skip meals! If you skip meals, your body will switch to starvation metabolism and wont burn as many calories. Plus, it increases the chances of you eating heavily later on.

-obviously you're going to drink alcohol over the festive period, there's no getting away from it. What you can do to help the calorie overload is to drink light colour beers and wines and avoid the mixers.

-professional drink. What I mean is have a non alcoholic drink in between...Nobody else needs to know.

-go steady on the cream based cocktails, they have plently of calories hiding in there.

-deserts...Very tempting over xmas. Limit yourself to a bite or two, or try sharing with a friend.

-focus on the healthy choices. Focus! Such as, turkey, ham and fish. Plus, the usual vegetables.

-eat till your satisfied! Not till your full! There is a big difference. The parents are to blame for this one. Growing up you were told to "finish your meal, there are people starving in other countries!" so you stuffed the rest of it in your mouth. Learn to stop doing this.

-eat when you are hungry only! Don't mistake this with starving. Think of a scale of 0-10, 0 is hungry, 5 is satisfied, 7 is full and 10 is having to loosen your belt! Eat only to 5.

-when you are entertaining family and friends be sure to put low fat and low calorie foods on the table. Pack the table with tasty dishes and low calorie alternatives of your traditional family favorites.

-schedule your workouts. Plan them in your diary like you would do with other appointments. Over the festive period it is very difficult to stay on track with colleagues endlessly asking you if you fancy a drink. Book your workouts now!

Good luck and have a great time over the festive period!