Silly Season Tips and Tricks to Taking Care of your Health . . .

By Sheri Barnsley - Resident Naturopath and Southport ASN Manager

It’s that time of year again, the festive season is filled with many social occasions upon which we often relax our health and fitness routine and allow ourselves to indulge a little more than usual… If you don’t want to throw away all of your hard earned work this year and aim to keep your body in the shape, follow these tips to minimise the damage and keep you trim and feeling terrific.

Always start the day right!

It’s easy to be tempted to reach for a chocolate bar or greasy morning cook-up over the Christmas break rather than your usual healthy breakfast. Be careful about developing bad habits, as this will often set you up for a day of bad eating! You do not need to fully deprive yourself of a little indulgence, but try these healthy alternatives instead. A big healthy breakfast will keep you fuller for longer, and you’re guaranteed to feel a lot better afterwards.

1) Swap high fat croissants for fresh fruit toast. Raisin toast is still deliciously sweet and spicy, but is also low in GI, sugar and fat content in comparison.

2) Rather than the common fry up of bacon, sausages and thick white toast, delight your taste buds with scrambled eggs, mushrooms and tomatoes on wholegrain toast.

3) Another one of my favourites, and my perfect way to start the day, is with a yummy morning fruit smoothie! Fresh Berries, bananas, mangoes and strawberries are perfect mixed with protein powder to nourish your body and sustain your blood sugar levels while keeping hunger cravings at bay. Evolves Slow Whey is a delightful addition to flavour and thicken any fruit smoothie you make.

Evolve Slow Whey- great tasting protein snack

Lighten it up!

Christmas day doesn’t need to mean sugary puddings, fatty meats and gravy. Instead lighten things up with tasty salads topped with lean meats such as chicken, tuna, salmon or beef, and vegetable dishes. Barbeques are an Aussie tradition over summer, but swap the traditional greasy sausage sandwich for grilled meats, vegies and salads. Some great foods I’ve experienced over my Christmas seasons are grilled chicken, beef, or prawn skewers - seasoned with fresh herbs... Yummo!

Better yet, why not try barbequed fish and vegies. Wrap fish fillets in foil, and cook on the bbq alongside corn cobs, zucchini, sweet potato, capsicum chunks and button mushrooms. Swap the creamy pasta salad for a healthy thai chicken salad. This will substitute the refined carbs and high fat mayo with lean protein and fresh vegies. For desert, satisfy our sweet tooth with juicy seasonal fruit, natural yoghurt, dressed with passionfruit. The same goes for snacks, ditch the chips and party sausage rolls. Make a tasty platter with an arrangement of fruit, homus and taziki dips, baked pita chips, carrot and celery sticks, nuts, seeds.

To help assist and enhance your body’s metabolism, fat utilisation and block excess carbohydrates give ASN Exclusive Nutrabolics Clenbutical a go too! It will increase your body's chances of keeping the silly season at weight off.

Set yourself an alcohol limit before you start!

By setting yourself a limit before you hit the party, you will be less likely to hit the kebab shop on the way home. Alcohol loosens your inhibitions, so you are more inclined to eat things you usually wouldn’t, plus it’s packed with kilojoules! Because alcohol is a toxin to our bodies, your body burns the kjs from the alcohol first, increasing the likelihood of storing any excess food we eat at fat. So it’s what you eat with your accompanying drink that really does the damage!

Don’t forget alcohol is also a diuretic, so be sure to alternate each alcoholic beverage with a glass of water. This silly season try drinking from smaller glasses and opting for lower kilojoule options such as low-joule wines and champagnes, spritzers, low carb beers and swapping soft drink mixers for soda and fresh lime. To help support your liver metabolise your alcohol consumption over the next few weeks incorporate some Primaforce Proliver supplementation into your diet. It is also essential to invest in a good multi-vitamin which contains all of your b vitamins, as these are flushed out of the body with alcohol consumption.

Limit laziness with summer sports and the great outdoors

Adapt your fitness regime to suit the festive season rather than falling onto the lounge over the Christmas break. Why not catch up with friends over a game of tennis, rather than a buffet lunch… or hitting the beach for a game of volleyball, or a walk up the dunes. If you don’t have time for your regular gym or exercise sessions try and fit in some sort of activity at home, even 10 mins done regularly is better than nothing! During the hotter months it is also important to make sure you are adequately hydrating, as you are more likely to be sweating more and flushing out essential minerals. Evolves Energize is a great rehydration formula to sip on during the hotter months is ensures your electrolyte balance is maintained and can also help your recovery from the previous night out on the town.

Evolve Energize- a complete rehydration drink with added glutamine.

Follow these helpful tips, take the time to plan your day and invest in good quality supplements over the Silly Season and you can enjoy the holidays whilst looking great and feeling fab!

See you next month!
Sheri B
Team ASN x