Can you have a healthy Easter..?
With miles of shelves stacked with chocolate eggs and sugar-rich sweets; hot cross bun mountains and beer and wine displays galore; going anywhere over Easter can be an open invite to take a break from temptation and indulge in Easter and Bank Holidays treats.
Like a bully in the playground, they can taunt you until, the next think you know, you’re packing the foil-covered bunnies away in the cupboard!
BUT its so difficult to see past all the unhealthy treats when it comes to Easter and Bank Holiday…
It can be hard, and we don’t need to tell you how to replace the treats with healthy options, we all know that a carrot with hummus is much better for us than an eleven inch chocolate bunny with Haribo eggs from its cute little basket!
So we ask the question “Can you really have a healthy Easter?”
Many of us have a long weekend to look forward to, four days off with family and friends; BBQs, nights out, lazy days…and we know that time for celebration often includes some indulgence.
Taking a break from the usual routine and enjoying some relaxation time is essential for our minds and our bodies, but, if you’re anything like us, we don’t want to completely fall off the fitness train and then need to run the track to get back on!
Simply put, we know that we will indulge; you know that you will indulge too! And for some it will be just a little, for others a little more! But how do we stay on track, not undo too much of our great work, but still have a great time?
Tips we love you will already know. But like muscles getting stronger with repetition, what you practise grows stronger. So yes, it may be things you know; but re-read, remember and realise …
You are stronger than you think and there are no bullies in the playground!
Quality over Quantity…
Don’t think you CAN’T indulge in any of your cravings this Easter. Frankly, a little of what you fancy does you no harm! We all need the odd treat – but be advocates for quality over quantity.
Rather than be pounced on by the big yellow supermarket sign: 8 eggs for £10! Opt for a single egg; one you will feel you have really worked for; treated yourself too. One you sit down to enjoy, piece by piece, moment by precious moment.
Remember: You don’t need to fill your kitchen cupboards because the supermarket tells you too!
It doesn’t have to be all about the chocolate!
When you think of indulging and treating yourself, for many of us, the first thing that comes to mind isn’t always chocolate. Chocolate is a familiar ‘friend’ because Easter (and clever marketing) has infiltrated our minds! If you think about it as an important time to celebrate and to reward yourself, we all need rewards! Have something to look forward to. But that isn’t always in the chocolate form!
Seeing other people treat themselves to things reminds us that we deserve it too, and it’s all too easy to think that our ‘indulgence’ can be mirrored by theirs – or clever marketing!
I bet chocolate, for many, wouldn’t be a reward! For some of us, 30 minutes to ourselves, in a place we love with an indulgent Magazine or a great Podcast is worth so much more than a cream egg!
Really think about what you need, what you want to indulge in and stretch for it, make it happen and enjoy it – whatever ‘it’ is.
Enjoy the moments…
The weather’person’ says we are in for a weekend hotter than Egypt! So make the most of it! Time with the family where exercise is part of the family fun.
And if the sun really does shine like they say it will, it’s perfect timing to indulge in the great outdoors, rather than the bag of Mini Eggs!
Go for a country walk or bike ride. Visit some historical sites. Play a game of football in the park, or maybe even take yourself to your nearest beach for a spot of volleyball!
Be together, on your feet, out in the air making memories.
And let’s face it, if we are eating and drinking a little more than usual this weekend, the more we are on our feet – the better!
Be prepared and don’t get hungry!
Meeting friends for a drink hungry, inevitably means you are more likely to over indulge in a light bite or appetiser to accompany the Gun & Tonic!
Family buffets and BBQs full of chocolate and pastries will be so much harder to decline if you haven’t fuelled yourself on nutritious goodness beforehand or gone prepared with some healthy treats that everyone can enjoy.
Make sure you have a healthy breakfast, eat a high fibre or protein snack before the goodies are in your eyeline, and you are far less likely to overindulge.
ENJOY!
You have no reason not to have THE best weekend. Don’t feel you have a mountain to climb or that you have to hibernate, blindfolded with your arms tied behind your back to get through the four-day weekend!
Know that you do have control. You can make the right choices and you are doing an amazing job.
Here’s to you.
Here’s to a Happy Easter with everyone you love making memories that will last forever and pounds that you can work off next week!
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