A cheeky mince pie here, a glug of mulled wine there and how could you possibly say no to that Christmas cheese board?

We're not here to tell you that you have to say no this Christmas, or even to avoid the great food and drink that we all associate with this festive season! Chances are, you're going to do it anyway! And if you think that the MHR coaches are not partial to an extra serving of roast potatoes or a few drinks on Christmas day, then you're very much mistaken!

But, in this post, we're going to talk to you about how best to deal with temptation and how to apply a small amount of moderation to your diet over the festive period.

RIght now, the weather is a bit naff, it's definitely wooly jumper time and we are well and truly in the comfort season. So the urge to comfort eat is HIGH! To make matters worse, supermarkets are literally stacking their entrances full of temptation. Last week it was tins of chocolates, this week it's crates of Baileys.

It's great to be able to enjoy these things over Christmas and we are massive believers that you should never deprive yourself of the things that you enjoy. So coming up are our top tips on how you can give in to a little temptation whilst at the same time applying some moderation!

1. Alcohol

If you like to have an alcoholic drink, chances are you'll stock up over the Christmas period. If you are drinking at home, just be mindful of your measures. I mean, there are house measures and then there's HOUSE measures! If you can try and stick to standard measures that will massively help to keep your calories down and will also reduce the sore head on Boxing Day!

2. Nail that Turkey!

The average Christmas dinner weighs in at around 3000 calories, this equates to the average calorie intake for a grown male! To help keep the calories down, go heavy on the Turkey. It's a very lean meat and quite low in calories, but also great for protein. So, if you're going to over indulge on anything, there are worse things you could do it on than Turkey.

3. Preparation is key

The vast majority of my clients who have fat loss goals use MyFitnessPal to track their calories. In the weeks leading up to Christmas, I've recommended to my clients to come in slightly under their deficit calories. This is gonna allow for greater calorie flexibility over Christmas week and will help ensure that December as a whole comes in at a deficit, or at maintenance calories.

4. Christmas dinner

When it comes to the big dinner, some simple ways of reducing calories for your Christmas day lunch could look like this:

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  -  Pile the plate with turkey and veg. Less of the beige coloured stuff.

  
  


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  -  Swap roast potatoes for boiled

  
  


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  -  Steam your veg which will help retain the nutrients

  
  


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  -  Make your bread sauce with skimmed milk

  
  

And when it comes to dessert, swap brandy sauce or custard for yoghurt or fromage frais!

5. Enjoy it!

Above all, just enjoy it. It's been a pretty crappy year for most of us and Christmas should be a time for you to enjoy food and drink with family and friends, so maintain a healthy relationship with food and try not to overthink it.

If your PT tells you that you need to track your calories on Christmas Day, you should probably start looking for a new PT!

When it comes down to it, it's not your habits between Christmas and New Year that shape your progress. It's the habits that you form between New Year and Christmas that do! So enjoy next week and make sure that on january 1st, you're back on track!