You can’t just stuff yourself and hope for the best…. Eating more mindfully over this Christmas time is something we should all try to do and it’s not as daunting as it sounds if you stick to my 5 easy tips.

1. Avoid Emotional Eating : It’s normal for negative emotions to surface at this time of year, but remember food isn’t the solution to any emotional issues (such as family issues or stress) that arise over the Christmas period. Do something fun every day to take your mind off things, and surround yourself with positive people who support you and your principles.

2. Do Not Skip Meals: Many think that by skipping breakfast they are leaving more room to stuff themselves later on. Truth is, all this does is set you up to overeat later on. Start the day with a healthy filling breakfast like poached eggs, & grilled tomato, or try my quinoa porridge, made with almond milk, dates and vanilla protein, and then you won’t feel like eating all the turkey when you sit down to Christmas dinner!

3. Mindful Eating: Slow down and pay attention to what food choices you are making – how the food tastes and how it makes you feel after you’ve eaten it. When we savour our food, we generally eat less and enjoy it more

4. Promise Yourself: Remember how terrible it feels to over eat not only on the day, but also for the days to come. Make a promise to yourself not to get to this point. Make food choices based on how you think you’ll fell after you’ve eaten the food.

5. Have an “All or Nothing” attitude: Start eating healthily TODAY. Give yourself to have small portions of your favourite foods but don’t feel guilty when doing it.