It is nearly December, which I believe signifies the whistle-blow of party season kick-off!
It is time to deck the halls and be jolly people… Unwind and indulge whilst remaining your Fairy best this festive season.
With tempting food lurking around every tinsel-draped corner and mouth-watering tipples punctuating every social soiree, it is important to keep in mind the 80/20 rule. We do not advocate 100% adherence to a saintly diet here at Food Fairy HQ, especially not around Yuletide, because we understand the importance of treats!
However, if you switch to ‘treat-mode’ for the entirety of December, you will also be in guilt-mode for about 50% of it. Not only that, but your party wardrobe will be bursting at the seams, and your weighing scales might take a trip through a smashed window in a moment of shock induced anger!
So here are our top 5 tips to shimmying through to the New Year feeling and looking your best:
Get portion savvy… Now you might think that this is the most obvious trick in the book, but if I quizzed most of you about what the ‘perfect plate’ looks like, many of you would sheepishly utter something along the lines of ‘Cath Kidston.’ When you know what constitutes the ‘perfect plate’ you really cannot go far wrong. So divide your imaginary plate in half. Divide one of the halves into 2 quarters. Your first quarter should be filled to the brim with protein, which should be about the size of your palm. The second quarter should consist of complex carbohydrates, which should equate to about the size of 2/3 tablespoons, and the remaining half of your plate should contain a flurry of vegetables of all shapes, colours and families! Let us take everyone’s favourite lunch of the year to illustrate the ‘perfect plate’ shall we? So visualise your Christmas dinner plate… Fill a quarter of the plate with turkey and pigs in blankets (!) another quarter with roasted potatoes, and the remaining half with roasted parsnips, Brussels Sprouts, carrots and broccoli. I will allow you to decide where the trimmings will be placed, but here are some tips – make your stuffing fresh with plenty of sage and use the water that you steamed your vegetables in to make your gravy!
Protein! Just make sure that the ‘perfect plate’ logic is applied to not only your meals, but also your snacks. Make sure you get plenty of protein throughout the day. Instead of crisps or chocolates as snacks, opt for nuts, hummus, seeds or natural yoghurt which all help to balance your blood sugars and keep you feeling fuller for longer. Try protein shakes for breakfast if you are on the go, such as whey or soya. Add a chopped banana and a handful of berries to protein powder and water and blend. Slurp whilst you do your hair and make-up in the morning, especially if you’ve partaken in a morning burst of exercise! Protein is not only essential for keeping your feeling satisfied, but it also wards off cravings and energy dips which make you fall victim to the alluring calls from the biscuit tin or bakery window. And not only this, but the amino acids which make up protein foods are the building blocks of your hair, nails and skin as well as your muscles. So for glowing skin, strong nails and glossy hair, as WELL as muscle tone to rival Jennifer Aniston’s eat protein!
Remember your liver. Whether you are a drinker or not, you should always engage in a daily cleanse. December is the month when people drink the most alcohol. It seems to bring out the drinker in even those with a ‘2 drink rule’! We are not saying go tee-total. Just remember to purify your organs each and every day. Drink plenty of water and herbal teas, which are made even better with the classic citrus slice accompaniment. Bulk buy lemons, or grow a lemon tree! A splash of yellow is what you’re aiming for. Eat loads of green leafy vegetables like cabbage, spinach, kale and watercress, and enhance the liver-friendly-factor of your plate with radishes, beetroot, onion, garlic and again-plenty of protein!
Makes friends with fats. Celebrate the Swedish way this Christmas and buy a gorgeously pink salmon as a buffet centrepiece. Salmon is swimming with omega 3, which will help your fat-burning furnace alight throughout party season! For a light dinner, enjoy some sardines on warm toast, and drizzle your vegetables with seed oils like sesame oil, pumpkin seed oil or flax seed oil. Nibble on walnuts and sunflower seeds. If you find these snacks a little bitter, sweeten them with the Christmas classic, cranberries for a taste bud treat!
Reach for the rainbow. You can’t go far wrong if you aim for a colourful plate. Getting a range of colours on your plate will mean that you are grazing across a food group spectrum, so you will be swallowing a whole host of diverse nutrients, filling any gaps as you go! Just bear in mind, that when I say colour, I mean colourful NATURAL foods… So don’t take that as a tip to stuff all three French Fancy flavours in your mouth in one go!
Love, Rachel, your Food Fairy Nutritionist! xxx
