Don't melt down over Easter

Mar 23, 2016

Don’t ruin all of your hard work post-Christmas by eating your weight in chocolate and hot cross buns at Easter!

I am not saying that you cannot treat yourself at Easter or even be a little more lax over what you eat over your 4 day weekend (yay) but try not to fall completely off of the horse. As we all know – it’s so much harder to get back on.

So tips and information as to how to survive Easter. And by survive, I mean to not eat your weight in chocolate for a week (please note if you really want to do this then that’s ok too! It’s your life.) But if you would like some help, then here it is…

Write down a plan for your Easter eating. If for example you have a big lunch planned for Easter Sunday figure out what healthy thigs you should consume around that big lunch so that you don’t ‘overeat’ all day. And you could also pick one Easter treat that you are going to allow yourself to have, so that you do not feel deprived and you get in to the spirit of Easter. So may a chocolate Lindt bunny or a cream egg? Remember that the average 200g chocolate egg has around 1000 calories! That’s a lot of exercise (over 2 hours or 10K run) to work that off! According to the WeightWatchers ProPoints system – a hot cross bun is between 5-7 ProPoints and a 100g Lindt bunny is 15 ProPoints. So that is something to consider when you are choosing your treat or thinking that eating chocolate and hot cross buns for breakfast is a good idea!

Another thing to consider is that Easter doesn’t have to be about eating! With your 4 day weekend – you could get active, go for a long walk or a bike ride. The roads will be a little emptier as a lot of people get away at Easter. Catch up with friends and play golf or lawn bowls. You don’t always have to eat and drink when you catch up.

Make your own healthy treats for Easter, look up some recipes that don’t involve a sugar overload. Maybe that could be something that you do with your Easter break – master a new recipe or try out making some healthy recipes that you don’t usually have to time make.

And if you are planning on allowing yourself some chocolate over Easter – make the rule that you do not buy it yourself, another tool not to over eat. I am sure that you will be given chocolate at every turn, so why not save yourself the money and the calories and just see what you get given, instead of buying it yourself!

Set yourself a goal this weekend. Like taking 2 yoga classes or cleaning out a wardrobe or fridge, don’t let the whole weekend be about eating or drinking. Make it more about you. Take the time to relax and reflect on the first part of the year and workout where you want to be in another 3 months. Enjoy your Easter break – and if that means eating and drinking, then that is great! Have the best time doing that. But if, this time next week – you will regret some of your choices. Choose to not make bad choices now and to feel better about yourself in a week’s time.

Whatever you do, have fun! And Happy Easter