How To Survive The Silly Season

The silly season is soon among us and while we are all busy organising gifts and ordering our turkey, its important to remember that the silly season doesn't have to compromise your waistline.

Christmas and the new year is a time of warmth and cheer, spending time with family and friends, enjoying food and wine. But we often over do it in the eating and drinking department leaving us feeling sluggish and irregular, formulating new years resolutions to get us back on track. Naed Nutrition has put together a few tips to help you survive this years silly season!

• Keep up your exercise/training routine throughout the holidays. The worst thing you can do is skip a day and make excuses not to go, this makes it harder to get back into your routine post holidays. Keeping up regular excercise ensures those extra mince pies and gravy won't compromise your waist line.

• Keep yourself occupied. Keeping yourself busy through your holidays, whether taking the kids out to the park or the beach, catching up with friends and planning days out ensures you don't snack on unwanted leftovers.

• Keep hydrated! The christmas season is certainly dominated by sun and dry heat that leaves us feeling lethargic and dehydrated. Ensuring you keep your fluids up will assist to digest your christmas dinner and lessen the severity of those post christmas party hangovers. Regular intake of water will also assist to boost metabolism and prevent boredom snacking.

• Plan activities or games to enjoy on christmas, boxing and new years day. Planning activities to engage in on the big day keeps everyone occupied, meaning you will eat and drink less, while making the most of time spent with family and friends.

• Christmas dinner doesn't have to mean roast ham, and turkey drenched with gravy. You can easily create a healthy christmas meal without compromising your waist line. Choose seafood, light salads and fruits that are refreshing in the summer sun, leaving you feeling light and fresh, not sluggish and lethargic!

Naed Nutrition would love to wish all of our amazing clients and affiliates a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

We look forward to seeing you in the new year helping you to reach those new year resolution goals!

5 Tips to Staying Hydrated in Winter

You would never think hydration could be an issue during winter, as there is no way you could possibly become dehydrated as you are not profusely sweating like the hot days of summer. Dehydration can still occur in winter, if not at a more accelerated rate! Fluid loss occurs via water vapour loss from breathing, along with loss via an increased urine output, as the kidneys attempt to maintain blood pressure while blood vessels constrict as a survival mechanism in cold temperatures

Dehydration in winter can increase your susceptibility to illness especially colds and flu, along with common symptoms of fatigue, headaches and cramps. Hydration is essential for every day metabolic processes, along with fighting fatigue, detoxifying, facilitating weight loss, improving digestion and leading to clearer skin and less wrinkles. Meeting your fluid intakes of 1L per 20kg of body weight can be tough enough in summer let alone in winter! 

Below lists a few tips to meet your fluid needs this winter

#1 Herbal teas are a fantastic way to curb cravings and keep you warm this winter, they are full of antioxidants and when caffeine free, can add to your water intake – green, chamomile, lemongrass & ginger, or peppermint are a few of our favourite

#2 Soups and broths not only keep you warm in winter but when packed full off veggies, herbs and spices can facilitate immune health and help to prevent or suppress sickness

#3 Increasing your fruit and vegetable intake will add to your water intake along with providing your body with essential vitamins and minerals to provide all round winter nourishment

#4 Start your morning with a warm water and lemon. Before breakfast or any drinks for the day a warm water and lemon prepares your body for food, it aims to detoxify and clear out your system causing bowel movements and correcting the bodies pH balance

#5 Reduce your intake of processed and packaged foods along with holding back on the salt at the dinner table. Dehydration is significantly caused by a high sodium intake, so aim to prepare your own meals and use fresh herbs and spices to add flavour to your home made dishes.

Sarah Campbell

Nutritionist at Naed Nutrition - Currambine