It may be harder to lose weight over Christmas, but if you can emerge from the festive season at the same weight you went into it you're doing well.
Here are some tips to guide you.
1. You don't have to go to the gym or pound the pavements these holidays but you were designed to move 365 days a year. Take regular walks, swim, play beach cricket with the kids or hire a kayak and go paddling. It all helps to burn calories and boost the metabolism.
2. You can enjoy a small piece of Christmas cake, just don't eat the icing.
3. If you are eating more butter, cream, ice-cream and cheese, help counter the risk of constipation and indigestion by eating lots of fresh fruit and vegetables.
4. Splash out on the quality of bread you eat. Wholegrain sourdough bread is more expensive but it's delicious and better for you.
5. Drink water — it will fill you up a bit and prevent you from overeating.
6. Turkey is high in protein and low in saturated fat and a great choice for Christmas day. Just eat a small amount of stuffing and only a couple of roast potatoes.
7. Don't eat the pork crackling or the turkey skin.
8. Buy nuts in their shell and place them in bowls with a nut-cracker alongside. It's more festive and they are not so easy to eat absent-mindedly.
9. Have bowls of cherries in place of chips and loose nuts — they are a terrific source of disease-fighting phytochemicals and vitamin C, are low in fat and energy and have a low GI.
10. Do like the Europeans this year and eat your main meal at lunchtime or early afternoon. You will have more time to digest it and may not need to eat dinner at all.
11. For a good night's sleep, avoid going to bed with too much alcohol and food in your belly and blood stream. Restrict your alcohol intake and say no to second helpings of food.
12. Aim for a few alcohol-free nights, but if you can't manage that, limit your intake to a maximum of two drinks a night.
13.Drink peppermint tea after a big meal to help digestion.
14. Buy fresh cream and beat it yourself, rather than buying thickened cream (which may contain vegetable gums) or double cream (which has way too much fat). It only takes five minutes and you burn calories in the process!
15. Get a good night sleep. You are more likely to overeat when you're tired and body is looking for energy. Aim to enjoy a few early nights in among the festivities.
16. Consider this — are you really hungry or just eating because the food is there?
17. Don't mix your drinks.
18. Avoid pre-mixed alcoholic drinks. They are high in sugar and will give you a terrible hangover the next day if you drink too many of them.
19. Drink a glass of mineral water between alcoholic drinks at parties.
20. Line your stomach with a good meal before going out to a drinks party. That way you can avoid any high-fat finger food.
21. Set yourself the challenge to be the last person at the table to finish your meal. When you eat slowly you chew your food longer and digestion is much easier.
22. A small glass of wine can assist the digestive process.
23. Say no if you're not hungry and don't go in for second helpings.
24. Drink more water. Water is absorbed by insoluble fibre in the gut causing it to expand and pick up and eliminate toxins and food residue trapped to the inside of the intestinal wall.
25. Any physical activity will agitate the intestines and help you go to the loo.
26. Eat smaller than normal portions.
27. Take a tablespoon of flaxseed oil with fruit and wholegrain cereal at breakfast. It will help to boost the digestive system and in the elimination process.
28. Don't try and do too much. Christmas stress is a common complaint and stress is one of the greatest causes of poor digestion. Allow yourself some time out to rest and rejuvenate.
29. Remember it's not what happens between Christmas and New Year that's as important as what happens between New Year and Christmas.
30. Have a Happy Christmas!
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