Christmas Shopping with the Stress - dont forget you dream Wouldnt it be amazing if the romantic notion of Christmas shopping – eating roast chestnuts while strolling into well-stocked shops... and then the queue magically disappearing just when you want to pay – was actually true? Although we do make dreams come true, here at Slimming World, we cant work miracles! What we can do however is give you the tools, the know-how and the motivation to overcome the hurdles that Christmas shopping can bring with it – helping you to achieve your seasonal weight loss wishes. Where to stop when you shop Spending a day in town can be a real minefield for us slimmers, so as well as your shopping list, take along some of our tips... • Jacket potato stands – a jacket spud and beans (without the butter) is a great choice if your stomach’s rumbling. It’s also super central heating for your body in the wintry weather and it keeps your fingers warm! • Subway is a top stop for a Free Food packed salad and check out our sandwich feature for healthy sandwich fillings. • If youre visiting a Christmas market, head towards the pulled pork or hog roast stall. The meat usually comes in a big white bread roll (10 Syns plus!) however, theyll happily give you a carton of pork without the bread. As long as its lean, its Free! • More fairs and markets these days have mushy pea vans – fill up on this Free Food favourite. • Get clued-up about your favourite coffee shop and discover the Free and low-Syn options. • Soups can sometimes result in you unknowingly slurping Syns – a serving of tomato soup in Pret-a-Manger is a staggering 13 Syns! If you fancy a warming soup that’s lower in Syns, Prets miso soup is 1½ Syns per serving and their chicken, edamame and ginger soup is 6½ Syns. • If youre in the shopping centre, grab ready-cooked marinated chicken pieces or chicken drumsticks with the skin taken off – both Free! Seafood sticks are a fab Free filler, or a packet of wafer-thin honey roast ham makes a great on-the-go snack. • If youre near Boots, Shapers Japanese style fish & vegetable sushi is a fab 3 Syns per pack, or Japanese style fish sushi is 2½ Syns per pack. Bacon, lettuce & tomato layered pasta salad is a satisfying 4 Syns per pot. Head to M&S for Vietnamese style salad pork bites with chilli dipping sauce (2 Syns per pack) or Teriyaki beef salad bites in mooli ribbons with sweet soy sauce (2 Syns per pack). • A packet of Ryvita Minis or a Healthy Extra cereal bar are a handy addition to your handbag (or your man-bag) at times like these! • All fresh fruit is Free and nothing says Christmas like a bag of satsumas! If Christmas shopping wouldnt be the same without a bag of roast chestnuts or a cup of mulled wine, total up. Seven chestnuts are a Healthy Extra b choice (or 6 Syns) and a small glass of mulled wine is around 6 Syns. Other top tips for surviving the Santa season • You never know when there’s going to be an unexpected after-work drink, a plate of mince pies or a box of chocolates going round at this time of year. Keep your Food Optimising book handy (for speedy Free Food, Healthy Extras and Syns reference) or better still, log into the mobile version of our website! Being armed with the Food Optimising facts means you’re turning up your choice power. That feeling of being in control is a wonderful early Christmas present to yourself. • If your regular eating habits have taken a Christmas holiday, a food diary – just for these few weeks – could be just the thing to help keep track of the odd chocolate, glass of wine or mince pie. Even if, once you total up, youve slipped over 15 Syns, youre staying in the know and in control. • Body Magic is a wonderful way to boost your weight loss at any time of the year. Thinking about how much activity you do on a regular week, what could you do to inclue an extra session or increase each activity by just 5 minutes this week? Brisk walking from one end of the high street to the other (without window shopping along the way), using the steps instead of the lifts in department stores and parking in the car-park on the outskirts of town all make Christmas shopping into a genuine Body Magic activity. • If you’re heading for a meal out during your shopping trip or a work Christmas do, take a look at the menu beforehand to pick out some fab Food Optimising options. Making great choices is much easier in advance – and visualising yourself ordering that great choice for just for a couple of minutes each day in the run-up helps make it all the easier once the waiter really arrives! • Stay flexible! If 15 Syns simply isnt enough for these occasional Christmas events, then flexible Syns is here for you. A few extra Syns every now and again – where you make a deal with yourself and stick to the pre-determined limit that youve calculated – will rarely harm your weight loss and it could make the difference between throwing the towel in and staying nicely in control. At Slimming World we want you to have the best run-up to and the best Christmas ever. It might be that you put your weight loss dream right at the top of your Christmas list this year, and choose to Food Optimise 100% over the festive season. Or it could be that the couple of days before and the couple of days after Christmas are more about staying in control rather than Food Optimising 100% – knowing that youll be back on track come January 1st. However you decide to enjoy Christmas, please remember that if Santa does leave a few too many pounds in your Christmas stocking, we can quickly help undo any damage done and help you feel beautifully back on track before the decorations come down. Happy Christmas x
Posted on: Sat, 29 Nov 2014 10:52:54 +0000
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