A Guilt Free Christmas

Here are a few tips on how I get through the holiday season:

Eat the salads first – um yea no, I get Christmas ham once every year. I can make salad any day of the week
fill up on water – ha are you kidding me? with all this delicious food around there is no way – saying that keeping a glass of water around is great to make sure you don’t get dehydrated, especially if enjoying a couple of drinks in this hot weather.
Eat fruit for dessert – once again um no… I slave over a gingerbread house every year. I will destroy it and I WILL enjoy it.
skip the seconds – instead just fill your first plate up so high you couldn’t possibly get up for seconds

This Christmas I plan on enjoying a little gingerbread from the house I make every year, A couple of wines with my folks and best of all, gorging on the Christmas lunch. Will I feel guilty about it? Heck no.

Most of the time I will pick the healthy option at a restaurant, and cook a healthy meal for myself at home. I pride myself on my healthy lifestyle, but even more, I pride myself on my moderate lifestyle. Life is to be enjoyed and should be lived to the fullest.

‘There is no point missing out on 95% of your life simply

to weigh 5% less’ (source unknown)

The truth is, I used a catching title for this blog post that I knew would draw people in because isn’t the dream be to be able to enjoy all food and all of it be delicious and nutritious for us (that doesn’t make up fat)? But food has become so much more than just a material that provides us with the nutrients we need to live.

As Better Health Victoria so accurately put it:

‘Food is an important part of any celebration in all the countries of the work, regardless of culture or religion’

Food for thousands of years has brought people together to celebrate birthdays, weddings, work promotions, graduations… you name the celebration and I am sure there will be some sort of ‘traditional’ food present.

Christmas is no exception.

Throughout the weeks following up to Christmas, I am going to be sharing some of my recipes for ‘healthier’ Christmas baking. Starting off with Ginger Bread Biscuits. Where I can, I love to boost the fibre or reduce the sugar of the food that I eat.

They make for a gorgeous (and cheap) present!

But what I want you to take away from this blog is that just because you splurge a little on christmas day, or leading up to it with work parties etc, that does not mean that you should or anyone else should make you feel guilty about the food you have consumed.

The food we get presented with (and slave over making) is a privilege. It is something we should treasure just as we treasure the time it means we spend with our friends and family over this time. Enjoy the holiday season, enjoy the food, the drink and then afterwards get back to the healthy lifestyle.

BUT NEVER FEEL GUILTY FOR THE FOOD YOU CONSUME.

Join me as we rebuild a healthy relationship with food! Subscribe below!

Shelley x