Christmas and all its feasting will soon be upon us.
Getting through the Christmas season without feeling bloated, frumpy, or like you are about to explode, can be quite a challenge. But today I am going to help you succeed and enjoy the silly season with all its fun and frivolity!

My top 4 tips to staying healthy without compromising the fun factor of Christmas are:
- Eat what brings you joy – don’t sacrifice all your fun this Christmas. What will make you happy? Will 6 servings of Christmas pudding bring you joy? (I know for me I love Christmas pudding, but a single small serve will bring me more joy than feeling sick after 6 serves!) Choosing small serves brings me joy without deprivation or the over-full sick feeling. I get to taste all the yumminess without the aftereffects. Sometimes all I need is a spoonful stolen from my husband’s plate and sometimes I take my own plateful. Do what truly brings you joy! Not what makes you sick!
- Take a plate – I always offer to bring food. This way I can bring something I know I can eat freely, that I love, without feeling sick or guilty. I usually bring a host of salads to our family Christmas. Beautiful vegetables with tasty dressings that I can feast on. That way I am full of tasty real food and the other foods become less tempting. See my recipes for my Christmas salads below.
- Plan before you go – I often decide before I go to what I will eat. I will choose to have a glass of wine but skip dessert. (That’s an easy decision for me, I’m not a dessert fan – unless its Christmas pudding. Lol.) If I know what I am going to do before I leave the safety of home, I find it much easier to say ‘no thanks’ when the food is in front of me. The decision has already been made! It’s easier and safer to make decisions when the food is not right in front of your face!
- Give away the leftovers – if you are hosting Christmas, don’t let people leave empty-handed. Make sure you are not left with a fridge full of leftovers that you will eat all week. I love having leftover meat and salad, but leftover cheese, crackers, desserts, breads, chips and snacks must leave the house! I fill people with treats as they leave the gathering. This way I will not have to face it all week long. If I don’t get rid of it at the time and there are no future parties to take it to, it will end up in the bin! No point leaving temptations that make me sick and unwell sitting in my kitchen to torture me for days on end!
Christmas is a time for fun, festivities and family. I would much rather enjoy a Christmas when I feel proud of myself and happy in my body than a Christmas that leaves me feeling fat, frumpy, bloated and sick.
Which will you choose?
Yours in Health,
Dr. Anthea Holder
(Chiropractor and Functional Nutritional Therapy Practitioner)