This time of year can be really hard to maintain a balanced lifestyle. With so many alcohol-fuelled Christmas parties to go to and indulgent food everywhere it’s very easy to let your hair down and go wild and not have a care in the world. I have been to so many Christmas parties already so for me when I started this brand new week all I could think about when I first woke up was I need to DETOX badly and please no one invite me to any more Christmas parties that serve alcohol I have had to much. All I want to do is go back to my Active Living, Clean Eating, Clean Living alcohol free Bubble. But no sooner I arrived to visit a girlfriend she reminded me about another Christmas Party that I was invited to that I totally forgot about and all I could think about is when are these endless Christmas Parties going to end.
With so many more alcohol-fuelled Christmas parties to go I thought I would share with you some Christmas party survival tips to help you get through the rest of the festive season:
Make A Plan
Before you arrive at your Christmas Party decide what you intend to drink, how much you plan to drink (one drink per hour is always a good guide – sipped, not gulped), and what time you plan to go home – and book a minicab to ensure it and set your alarm so you don’t forget it. Having a plan in your head will make it much easier to stay on track and make you less inclined to fall into temptation and inevitable regret.
Balance Out The Booze
While it might be your routine to have a glass or two of bubbly while you are getting ready to go out, these are quite often forgotten units of alcohol and calories. If you know that you will be going out and having more drinks later on, then use this time before to balance everything out with some goodness. Nibble on some healthy fat and protein, which will stabilise your blood sugar levels and prevent alcohol from being absorbed too quickly into your bloodstream. Try a few slices of chicken breast, some olives, a small plate of veggies with hummus, or a handful of almonds, all washed down with a large glass of water and freshly squeezed lemon.
Choose Your Poison Wisely
The decisions made when looking at a drinks menu should be similar to those made when reading a food menu. How healthy is it? Can I find a better alternative? Will I stick to just one or am I going to end up wanting more? Of course, all alcoholic drinks are highly calorific, but you can make smart choices. The best advice I could give is to keep your choices simple. Sticking to a glass of wine (red has lower sugar content on average than white), which contains anywhere between 100 and 150 calories, is much better than a mixed drink, which can be loaded with hidden sugars and unwanted calories. If you’re not a wine lover, then a light beer or a mixed drink with a clean mixer (sparkling water, fresh lemon juice, diet tonic) is a lot better. Steer well clear of mixing anything with fruit-juice concentrate, sweet creams, non-diet soda, anything caffeine-laden and flavoured syrups. Whatever you decide to drink, stick to the same choice throughout the party and ensure you finish one drink before ordering a refill so that you can keep close track of everything you consume. Finally, try to pace yourself by alternating between one alcoholic drink and a glass of water. Staying hydrated will really help you drink less alcohol, and if you can, snack throughout the night on the healthiest options available.
Post-Party Detoxing
It has been clinically proven that alcohol inhibits sleep, yet when you get home from a fun-fuelled party, often your bed is the first place you want to go. Before letting your head hit the pillow, there are a few important things you need to do to kickstart the detoxification process and help the morning’s hangover. The most important thing to remember is that a hangover is caused by dehydration, so now is the time to give your body everything required to prevent this from happening. Have some Hydralyte before you go to bed and first thing when you wake up in the morning it will help with the dehydration. Secondly, eat a banana to help restore your potassium levels. The loss of this mineral when drinking alcohol contributes to the dehydration symptoms of a hangover. Thirdly it’s to late now to say I wish I didn’t drink last night and I am never going to drink again take a cold shower and get back to bed and try to sleep it off as best as you can.
Restore Your Body
Because alcohol has a diuretic effect, you can lose a lot of vitamins and nutrients while drinking it – most importantly, vitamins B and C. It is important to restore your body with these the next day. Start by taking a high quality vitamin B complex. When it comes to what you should eat, nutritionists are divided in opinion. While some believe eggs are a good option, others suggest fructose-containing foods like apples, bananas and pears. Some believe bland, simple carbohydrates such as rice and toast are the best option. I think sometimes veggimite toast can work wonders. Whichever food you choose, ensure it is as nutrient-dense as possible. Finally, although it may be the last thing you want to hear when you have a hangover, light exercise (a brisk walk or yoga) will make you feel better faster. It increases the flow of oxygen to your cells, raising your metabolic rate, and therefore speeding up the detoxification of harmful compounds in your body.
As one of our beautiful Spa it Girl Blog readers {Nadine} would say – JUST SAY NO – when someone ask’s if you want a drink. Nadine is really strong when it comes to putting her health first and choosing not to wake up the next day feeling like sh*t and I admire her for this. When you have that Inner Party Girl within you really need supportive friends like this. So with Nadine’s MANTRA of JUST SAY NO – I started my week with a plan and that was I didn’t want to drink at any of my Christmas Parties this week. So I turned up to one of my friends dinner party with a bottle of Sparkling Mineral Raspberry Water and asked if anyone would like a drink {lol} I mean who seriously would expect Australia’s Active Living Blogger to be drinking anything other than sparkling water.
Stay well hydrated, safe and enjoy dancing the night away because it is true – it is that time of the year lets be realistic you are only human so don’t beat yourself up if you miss a few classes, drink more than a couple of glasses of wine or eat to much as long as you can recognise when enough is enough and get yourself back on track for a week of clean eating, living, drinking a green smoothie every day, having your multi-vitamins, catching up on your much needed sleep, walking a little, gym during the week you will start to feel awesome again.
Spa it girl xoxo