The festive season is a wonderful time of year filled with family, friends and food. To ensure that you enjoy every moment and make it to January happy and healthy, keep these five tips in mind as you navigate family- and friend-filled lunches, dinners and snacky spreads.

1. Start your day right

Not only does eating breakfast kick start your metabolism for the day, it also lets your body know that it can expect more food later on. And that’s important because it encourages your body to burn the calories you consume rather than store them, which happens when you skip the ‘most important meal of the day’. What’s more, starting your day with a healthy breakfast has been shown to result in you:

• Eating less fat through the day
• Meeting your recommended daily intake of fruit and vegetables
• Having a higher calcium and fibre intake

 (Source: rush.edu)

2. Eat with your day in mind

Once you’ve got your eating off to a good start, keep the momentum going throughout the day by eating in line with your plans. For example, if you know you have an afternoon tea planned, eat a good lunch so that you’re not starving when you’re faced with scones, lemon meringue tartlets and other tempting treats. Or, if you have a dinner commitment, keep lunch light and opt for fruit salad and yoghurt or a healthy salad. Speaking of greens…

3. Get enough fruit and veggies

These are packed with immune-boosting, disease-fighting vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and fibre, which are essential as you get older. If you find that you’re struggling to get enough fruit and veg into your daily diet over the festive season, here are three ways to boost your intake quickly and easily.

4. Watch your portion sizes

There’s no reason you can’t enjoy a little bit of everything over the holidays, as long as you don’t enjoy too much of it. Of course, that’s easy enough when you’re eating a meal that’s been served to you, but quite another when you’re standing in front of a festive buffet table loaded with delicious delights! One tried and tested way to successfully navigate an eat-as-much-as-you-like situation is to use a side plate rather than a dinner plate. Not only will you keep your portions in check, you’ll also arrive at the end of all three courses feeling satisfied rather than uncomfortably full.

5. Don’t skip your exercise

It can be tempting when the rest of the world starts slowing down at the end of the year to do the same – especially if your social calendar has filled up. But with all the extra eating, socialising and relaxing you’ll be doing, it’s more important than ever to keep active and exercise regularly. If you’re an Evergreen resident and you belong to a walking club, ask your fellow walkers to keep you accountable, and offer to do the same for them. Accountability is one of the biggest benefits of group exercise, and ‘tis the season to make it work for you!