Pastelle. Ham. Black cake. Enjoy your favourite Christmas goodies in moderation to help maintain your physique over the holidays.

Ham. Pastelle. Fruit cake. Black cake. Punch-de-creme. Eat them all together, and what do you get? Quite possibly an expanded waistline and a bulging figure. While the holidays are a time for eating and being merry, eating everything in sight will, no doubt, take its toll. One must consider the after-effects which can come with decimating all those Christmas goodies. Fitness experts and nutritionists the world over agree that the solution to keeping one’s figure intact for and after the Christmas season is moderation.

Watch that sweet tooth
Nigel Flatt, fitness instructor at West Mall’s Bio Fitness Gym advises persons to be mindful of what they consume, especially if it’s sugar-coated. “It is vitally important to stay away from too much sweet. Too much of one thing isn’t good for you. If you don’t eat properly you can do cardio from now till next year and you won’t lose weight.” As if that wasn’t already a hard pill for some of us to swallow, he also advocates eating only small portions of carbohydrates to avoid looking like Miss Piggy after the festivities are over. “You can consume your goodies for Christmas but do so in small portions,” Flatt advises. “Instead of having a whole pastelle or two or three slices of black cake or fruit cake, have half of a pastelle and one thin slice of cake. If you can follow a diet plan, better yet.”

Exercise!
Flatt says exercise is the magic word for those wanting to stay in shape after the season of merriment is over. But it’s not all doom and gloom. The good news is, one does not have to spend half their day slaving away at the gym to get their blood pumping. Flatt notes that cardiovascular exercises like brisk walking, running, jogging and skipping do the trick for those who have no time to go to a gym.
“These exercises can have the same effect as the gym and you can do it at home, on your own time,” he says.

Have control
Having good intentions is good but it will take a bit of work for most of us to keep our bodies looking good. When temptation rears its ugly head, you will do you well to turn away. “You have to want it for yourself. Nobody can be watching you 24/7. Your instructor or trainer can only do so much,” Flatt asserts. Having control over what you eat is essential. Even those blessed with a sexy physique should not get complacent during the holidays, as, according to Flatt, eating badly and a lack of exercise will catch up with you—sooner or later!