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  |  Healthy Living  |  Healthy Eating  |  How to avoid bloating this Christmas
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How to avoid bloating this Christmas

by Suzannah Olivier

Christmas bloat: Woman drinking waterGet a head-start on your resolutions by making sure you avoid the Boxing Day bloat and can squeeze into your LBD for the New Year's Eve bash. Don't think it can be done without spoiling your fun? Here's how...

The 'morning after the night before' to beat them all has got to be the one you endure on Boxing Day. By now you've already been partying for at least two weeks and on Christmas Day you've pushed all the boundaries with the blow-out of the year, so maybe this year it's time for a diet rethink.

Concentrate on positive foods

Not all seasonal food is going to drag you down. While sausage rolls and cheese balls will inevitably make you feel leaden, lots of delicious lighter options are on offer. By making better choices you can maximise your enjoyment and make sure you don't feel deprived. What's more, you will avoid over-eating on stodgy, greasy foods which have a deadening effect on your energy levels.

  • Tempting treats are often fatty and we crave this. Satisfy the craving with healthy fats from foods such as smoked salmon or nuts. A useful canape, instead of cocktail sausages, is lean bacon wrapped around pitted prunes.

  • Christmas pudding and mince pies are guaranteed to bloat you up, especially if you have a wheat sensitivity. There are really good wheat or gluten-free options these days which means you can enjoy without bursting! A wheat-free turkey stuffing could include quinoa, pine nuts, garlic and herbs.

  • The problem with sugary foods is that it they trigger blood sugar highs and lows, which open the floodgates on bingeing. By enjoying non-sugary snacks and concentrating meals around protein foods, you avoid this.

    Snack on olives and pickles, stack up small oatcakes or rounds of pumpernickel bread with delicious toppings such as smoked duck breast slices, garlicky spread and sliced grapes, sweet cured herring and sour cream, or low-fat cream cheese, dried apricot slices and walnut halves.



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    This iVillage Health service area is designed for educational purposes only. You should not rely on this information as a substitute for personal medical attention, diagnosis or hands-on treatment. If you are concerned about your health or that of a child, please consult your family's health provider immediately and do not wait for a response from our professionals. For the full Disclaimer, click here.
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