The Christmas season is upon us again bringing back warm, fuzzy feelings of family gatherings, giving gifts and usually gaining about 10 pounds of fat between now and New Years Day. But you can still enjoy all the plus points of the festive period without needing plus-sized clothing.

1 Try to fit your workouts into at least two sessions a week. Usually life gets hectic at this time of year and your workout might be the first thing to disappear off the schedule. The best bet is to get it done first thing in the morning. If the workout is effective you should be able to get it done in under an hour, any longer than that and you aren’t being effective.

When you are only working out twice a week it should be a form of strength/metabolic exercise that will increase your metabolism in the long run. Join an early morning class and commit to going a minimum of twice a week right through the Christmas period.

2 Stick to eating healthy at least 80% of the time. This means if you eat five meals a day, seven days a week (which you should be doing), you have seven meals that you can plan to splurge on. This will help you maintain your current weight and size. If you want to lose fat over the Christmas period and look better than all of your friends at the New Years party, then you better stick to healthy nutrition 90% of the time, which means splurging on only three meals a week. You’d be surprised how fast you’ll slip to only 70% of healthy meals.

The key to keeping your Christmas on track is to plan out these splurges ahead of time and know that you can relax at the Christmas party or the family gathering on Saturday night, because you will eat healthily during each meal up until then. Plan these splurges, take them, enjoy them and more importantly do not feel guilty!

3 Take some down time for yourself over Christmas. Keeping your stress levels to a minimum will keep your body functioning to its optimum level. Research has shown that if you are stressed, your belly fat will increase. Do something to manage your stress and don’t let this time of year stress you out!

Words by Joe Hanney

Joe is a regular contributor and fitness expert to the media and also advises at obesity and weight management clinics. He was also the International Personal Trainer of the Year 2008 and an Ambassador of the Special Olympics 2009. He is currently holding regular seminars in and around Leicester.

For more information on Joe contact 0844 8442471, or e-mail info@resultsweightloss.co.uk