December 9, 2025 • 30 mins
Want to enjoy Christmas without the food hangover?
Leanne and Susie share simple, realistic strategies to enjoy the festive season without overeating or falling into the “all or nothing” trap.
In this episode:
- The mindset that leads to festive bingeing
- Portion and pacing tricks that actually work
- How to enjoy your favourites without feeling stuffed
- When to get back on track (hint: it’s sooner than you think)
Press play to feel lighter, calmer and more in control this Christmas.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
It was the week before Christmas and all through the
house mothers were stressed much more like.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Than a mouse. That's my attempt at Christmas.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
Right, with just a week or two before the holidays
officially begin, Leanne, it is time to wrap the Nutrition
Couch for another year and chat all things surviving the
next couple of weeks without having a nervous breakdown, which
I am clearly at risk of. Hello, I'm Sushie Burrow
and I'm Leanne Wood, and together we bring you The
Nutrition Couch, the weekly podcast that keeps you up to
date with everything you need to know in the world
(00:34):
of nutrition, as well as some festival festival festive survival tips.
We are going to discuss the ways you can enjoy
Christmas without completely overeating. We have a couple of our
favorite Christmas treats we want to share with you, and
our listener question is all about getting back on track
after the holidays.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
So, Leanne, it's been a year, hasn't it.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
It's been a year.
Speaker 4 (00:55):
It's crazy to think that it is December. I still
haven't got my Christmas tree up. Name was putting me
to shame. There's like there's a tensil everywhere and everyone's
got like ball balls on their gates, and I'm like,
I will get there.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
It's getting to the stage there where you can't get
away with it. Like when kids are little, you can
pretend Christmas is, you know, February, but you know your
kids are getting to the stage where they're you know,
at daycare and they're going to start to be expecting.
Speaker 4 (01:17):
You know.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
I get lists now a mile long from my kids
about what to have. You really can't skip on Christmas
too easily. But I think, you know, people say this
every year, but if you ask me what I've done
this year, I couldn't tell you, Like, I really don't
know the period between about July through till now.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
I have no idea what even happened.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
Like I know we have launched a serious supplement company
in the last couple of years that's doing incredibly well.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
And we are very grateful for that.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
But maybe that explained some of the whirlwind in which
we're living because I really don't know what I've done
or achieved. And I am trying to be very very
present for the children because my kids are almost ten
and they love Christmas. But I'm really like on their
verge of just losing it, losing my shit on a
daily basis. So anyone listening who feels exactly the same,
we feel you, and we're all just in it together,
(02:04):
aren't we. So hopefully this episode's a bit of fun
and just pulling some ideas on how to survive the
festive season, because in my experience, it really wraps up
this final kind of week before Christmas. People are done,
people at private schools already on holidays, a lot of
businesses have wrapped, and so I find it's quite a
good time of year in some ways to start preparations
(02:27):
for the next year, because I find that when it
hits Christmas and then Boxing Day and then people really
just like to do nothing for that sort of whole week.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
It's the only permission we ever have to do not much.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
And then you sort of roll into January and then
you think, oh, I wanted to get organized.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
I wanted to get on track with things.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
So I think that if you are lucky to have
a little bit of time and you have been super
organized with your shopping, and you are finding that the
kids down at school now and you've got a bit
more time, it is actually a really good time to
start to make some plans at this time of year
to make sure that you make the most of this time.
I think what I always encourage my clients to do
(03:07):
is really separate out special occasions from the mindless munching
all the time. So I think, when you've got things
like the Cabri favorites around, the chocolate covered nuts, the
short breads, the mince pies, it's very easy for a
couple of celebratory days to roll into three weeks of overeating.
So I think, just try and keep in mind the
(03:28):
biggest predictor of discretionary intake is availability. And no one's
saying you can't enjoy treats of the season, but we
are saying that there's a lot of treats of the season,
and if you can at least keep them out of sight,
out of mind, and keep them till when you are entertaining,
rather than having them on the display and really waiting
until it's that Christmas Eve Christmas Day period to enjoy them,
(03:48):
and then I say, get rid of them. You know,
the problem is when Christmas goes between the twenty fourth
and then the second of January, isn't it. It's just
a huge amount of extra food. And I think the
other thing that might sway listeners this season is that
it's also quite expensive. Now, you know, it's not like
you can, you know, just have extras and not, you know,
spend hundreds and hundreds of dollars like chocolates, like thirty
(04:10):
forty dollars for a seasonal chocolate present. So I think
reusing things and getting them to go the extra mile
is also important. There's also a thing I really like
at the supermarkets, and we'll discuss a couple of them
in a minute, but it's the individual portions of everything.
What I've noticed is that there's mini tarts, now there's
mini pavlovers. I think that goes a long way and
keeping portions controlled, so rather than serving yourself a massive
(04:33):
slavi of Pavlover, you can have a mini and still
enjoy it. And I guarantee you that you get just
as much enjoyment from the mini as you do the
massive slab. So I think, you know, catering and not
over catering is a really big part of it. And
keep in mind that whenever you have a big meal,
you want to buffer a lighter meal, so using things
like your salad, your seasonal seafood, your seasonal fruit and
(04:55):
turkey breasts. There's plenty of healthy options as well. You
don't have to fully over indulge with everything on offer,
So you know, there are a couple of ways that
I would just try and buffer it. And perhaps most
importantly and something that people don't think of, is this
is the time of year to move more. There is
no reason why you can't do a walk every Christmas
holiday day. Once the kids aren't at school, you know,
and work is wrapped up, you might be working from
(05:16):
home more or already started and you'll leave. You know,
there's no reason to not be doing more. You don't
have to do strenuous gym workouts, but going for a
couple of walks, or if you're at a beach holiday,
really factoring that in goes a really long way, because
the double whammy is eating heavy food and then sitting
down for hours on end. So I find you can
either write off Christmas Day and really, you know, do
(05:37):
whatever you like and then get straight back on track,
or a more moderate approach is just to you know,
focus on important meals where you are indulging, versus other
meals which just revert to your normal programming. I think
are the two positions that work quite well to enjoy
Christmas without completely overdoing it.
Speaker 4 (05:54):
Yeah, absolutely, because I think in the moment, it might
feel good to eat everything, but the reality is that
it doesn't actually make us feel good. Like how many
of us actually love that feeling of being like a
stuff turkey on Christmas Day?
Speaker 3 (06:06):
Like nobody likes that.
Speaker 4 (06:07):
Oh my gosh, you know, I've got pain in my stomach,
I need to undo my jeans, I need to lie
down on the couch. Like it might feel good in
the moment, but the reality is that it's not actually
that great for us. So I think some of these
you know, tips we can provide our listeners with around
Christmas can actually.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
Go a long way.
Speaker 4 (06:22):
And the first one is really like creating a Christmas
plan that feels good for you and just not leaving
everything up to chance. Like this is all in the
lead up to Christmas. Like if someone says to you, hey,
do you want to catch up for Christmas? Like be
really intentional and be like, yeah, can we go to
this I don't know, like new juice bar or a
new solid place that I've found. Don't be like yeah, sure,
what do you want to do, and then you know,
everybody ends up at the Italian place where there's heaps
(06:44):
of heavy food around. So it's like, actually be a
little bit more intentional with your plans this Christmas and
even Christmas Day. Like I'm my family maybe because it's
on the Dietitian, but I'm always on salad duty. My
brother always makes a potato bake, my parents are on protein,
and my sister always makes a dessert or so, so
we all have like a plate that we bring to
Christmas Day, so it's kind of like planned out. We
don't end up with like eight plates of dessert and
(07:06):
one tiny little salad to go between.
Speaker 3 (07:08):
Like twelve people.
Speaker 4 (07:09):
So I think creating a plan that is intentional but
still feels good where there are still some Christmas and
festive treats around, but there's also that balance between good
food as well.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
You know, if you've got two people on.
Speaker 4 (07:19):
Desserts, make sure someone's bringing a fruit platter and make
sure someone else is bringing more of like the festive
kind of treat. I've also been talking to my clients
about non negotiables, like in this festive season, there's so
much around, Like you said, Susie. There's so many treats,
there's so many social catchups. It tends to be from
the twenty fourth of December, you know, and then it
just continues right through it basically the new year. Whateveryone
(07:41):
goes right, I'm going to get back on track and
be really healthy now. So I really think during that
period of a couple of weeks, you have to have
some non negotiables. And I've been chatting to my clients
this week about that, and one of them is like,
my non negotiable is two exercise sessions a week. And
I'm like, that's great. And where's another client who's like
really into it. She's like, my non negotiable is five
exercise a week. So we're all that little bit different.
(08:02):
But you know, a non negotiable for you might be
a set bedtime every day, or it might be that
you're only going to choose one social occasion for the
week that you're going to have some alcoholic drinks, or
if you do like some alcoholic drinks, maybe you're non
negotiable is no more than two drinks at each occasion
that you drink at.
Speaker 3 (08:18):
Just things like that.
Speaker 4 (08:19):
Ro I think actually having a bit of a think
and a pre plan with this whole festive season can
actually be really beneficial for you, not only for your
health goals, but also just to keep you on track
so you don't overdo it and feel really I guess
that's the words lodgy afterwards.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
And I think another thing that sprung to mind when
you were chatting about it is there's a really common
diet mindset. And I know this will resonate with so
many of our listeners. They decide they're either on or
they're off. And I think this is such a dangerous
mindset because when you're off, it naturally defaults too, I'm
going to overeat. It's actually psychologically giving yourself permission to bing,
(09:00):
which is exactly what we do not like our clients
to be doing because we want them to have a foundation.
And then there'll be some occasions where you might eat
more and ideally than some occasions that you'll eat less
to be in energy balance. So I think if you're
already in yourself a programming, oh, I'm going to just
eat whatever I want that day I'm off, that is
a dangerous mindset because to me, then lean clients are
(09:22):
eating according to their head and not even what they
actually feel like. They're just giving themselves ruthless permission to overeat,
and I think that's a very dangerous model. So for
anyone who has a long history of dieting, and I
know from my own clients, and I'm sure you know
hundreds of our listeners are nodding their head right now,
I think something to really work on this holiday season
(09:42):
is enjoying celebratory foods in reasonable amounts, but not giving
yourself permission to overeat and that you're on or off,
because ideally you'll always be on unless there's a special
meal where you might have a larger meal and a dessert,
well then you're not going to need to back it
up with a second one. Now, for those people listening
who do have to events a day, so there's lots
of people who have Christmas lunch at one event and
(10:04):
Christmas dinner at the other, you know either all the
way to do it is just small amounts of everything.
So no one's saying you can't have a pudding here
or you can't but rather than having four prawns, have
one or two, have one slice of turkey breast, like,
have small amounts of everything you've tasted everything, but you
haven't overeaten. And let's be honest as well, there's often leftovers.
If you love that food so much, you can often
(10:26):
take some home with you and have it the next day.
There's nothing wrong with doing that, but giving yourself psychological
permission to stuff your face just because it's Christmas is
a really good thing to avoid doing this season and
practice eating and enjoying good quality food and moderation rather
than overeating.
Speaker 3 (10:41):
Yeah, one hundred percent.
Speaker 4 (10:42):
And I hear like, on Christmas Day, we do a breakfast,
we do a lunch, and we do a dinner between
the family, so it's a lot of eating, and it's
a lot of food.
Speaker 3 (10:50):
And my family likes food and we like to over cater,
so there's always stuff everywhere.
Speaker 4 (10:54):
And then everyone tries to get me to take everything home,
and I'm just like, no, no, no, We've got plenty.
Speaker 3 (10:58):
So I kind of go by that.
Speaker 4 (11:00):
I don't want to say real but guideline of I
really try to think to myself, what's the one special
thing I want here at the breakfast?
Speaker 3 (11:07):
Is it the ham cheese croissant?
Speaker 4 (11:08):
If someone made a beautiful like cheer coconut mango pudding
that I want to try, like, what's the one special
thing at the breakfast time, what's the one special thing
at lunch? And then same deal with dinner again, because
if not, you just end up trying everything and then
you get to your next you know, dinner or lunch
whatever it is, and you're like, oh my gosh, I'm
so full, I don't even need food yet there's another one.
Speaker 3 (11:27):
Then there's another one, and there tends.
Speaker 4 (11:29):
To be even more social things on the boxing day
as well. So I really do think that that's a
great guideline, just what's the one special thing I want here?
And then the rest of the plate is all about
that balance. It's the fresh food, it's the veggies, it's
the salads, it's the protein, and it's some fresh fruit
as well, because that all that stuff goes such a
long way to just making you feel so good at
Christmas time, but also getting in a lot of extra
(11:49):
nutrients as well. So for any listeners, if that guideline
resonates with you, like the one special thing, if you've
got multiple social occasions throughout this period, it's something that's
really helped my own that my own relationship with food
and I certainly use it with my clients, and particularly
those who have that very all or nothing approach to eating,
like you were describing Susie. They do quite well with
this one special thing guideline because it's not about restriction,
(12:13):
but it is about being intentional and not just eating
everything in sight for the sake of eating everything inside,
because it doesn't actually make us feel good long term.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
And one of the most powerful things you can do
too actual is that acknowledging that you will have larger
meals and perhaps several of them on the key holiday days.
The two rules I like are at least two hours
at least in between eating occasions, because what tends to
happen in the holidays is that you'll have the breakfast
in the morning, then an hour later a few favorites chocolates,
(12:43):
then someone will give your mince pie, and then you
actually never have a break from not eating. And that
is really important to kind of reset your digestive hormones
and stop you feeling sick.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
So even if.
Speaker 1 (12:53):
You've had a big meal at twelve or one, try
not to have anything until three, And even if you're
serving the desserts, wait two hours and if you can
go for a walk after the big meal. It will
make a huge impact on your blood glucose control. It's
going to stop you feeling sick, and it's really going
to mean that you can basically eat a bit more
rather than super loading with and just laying down in between,
which will make you feel worse. So if you can
(13:15):
factor in some movement with the kids around the block
on new bikes, or if you've got a dog, take
the dog out and just you'll feel so much better
for doing it. And yeah, a break in between eating
occasions is very, very important, and that it's hard to
do when there's a lot of sort of chocolates and
extras around on those holiday days at people's houses.
Speaker 3 (13:33):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (13:33):
Absolutely, And I guess that kind of leads this really
nicely into our next segment of the podcast, which is
all about enjoying yourself but not overeating. And I would
say for most of us, myself included, it's a fine line,
like it's actually really difficult to know when am I
satisfied versus when are my oops a little bit overfull
and have had a little bit too much. So my first,
I guess tip for our listeners would be to try
(13:56):
your best to eat slowly like I'm a fast person.
I'm a fast eater, I'm a fast drinker, I'm a
fast talker. My brain goes at a million miles an hour.
Speaker 3 (14:04):
So I really struggle with this.
Speaker 4 (14:05):
But a tip that's really helped me with my own
I guess journey with food is to kind of like
mentally divide my plate in half.
Speaker 3 (14:12):
I don't like physically do it. I just kind of
look at my.
Speaker 4 (14:14):
Plate, and when I finish eating half of it, I
make sure I pause, and I put my knife and
fork down, and I kind of check in with myself
and I'm like, right, am I still hungry? Am I
feeling satisfied? What's tasting really good? And just allow my
appetite a chance to catch up with how much food
have actually eaten, because I'm sure a lot of my
listeners would have heard the remark that it takes about
twenty minutes for your body to feel full, and where
(14:35):
that actually comes from is our gut releases hormones that
have to travel from the gut up to the brain
that then basically send a message up to the brain
to say, hey, you're starting to feel full. The Tommy's
fool you've had enough and then gives off some of
those like fullness type hormones. But if you're eating far
too quickly, like I'm guilty of, you don't get that
(14:55):
signal fuss enough, right, The signal comes, but it comes
too late where you've actually gone from satur fine to
over full, and by then it's too late you kind
of get that massive oh my gosh, I've had too much,
and by then ten minutes later you're.
Speaker 3 (15:06):
Even more full.
Speaker 4 (15:08):
So it is a really good, I guess tip to
kind of just mentally divide your plate and try to
keep an eye on the clock. And if you know
that you've done half your meal and not only five minutes,
it's a good idea to slow down, have a sipper water,
have a little bit of a chat with a conversation,
and then kind of come back to your meal. Give
it that sort of ten to fifteen minutes. And when
I explain this to a lot of clients, sometimes I
get pushed back because they say, oh, but my meal
(15:29):
will go cold. But the best thing about summer in
Australia is that, oh Christmas in Australia is that it's summer.
So we're not you know, we're not in the America,
we're not eating these hot, beautiful turkey potato type meals.
It doesn't really matter if you've got this beautiful salad,
little bit of cold turkey. It doesn't really matter if
you're taking a little bit longer to finish your meal.
From a digestive perspective, it's probably a good thing. So
that's probably my number one tip I guess to help
(15:52):
prevent over eating. And then I guess the other one
is to really make sure that plate's balance. And it
sounds simple, and it sounds like something that we're like, well, yeah,
of course I do that, But again, the reality is
that we get carried away with all of these like fun,
festive foods, and we load up on the potato bake
and the roast potato and all of this extra stuff,
and then there's like a little tiny corner left on
the plate. We add a little bit of salad, but
(16:14):
it's not that kind of half a plate of salad
that ideally we would like from a general health perspective.
So I think start by building the balance plate first
and then add the fun stuff on top. But most
people do it the opposite way around where all the
fun stuff goes on first, and there's very little room
left over for some of the actual real nourishment or
that goodness. So I think flip that build the balance
plate first, and that is what fills you up and
(16:36):
basically slows down your eating as well, because you've got
to chew a lot to get through all of those
veggies and salads and protein versus when you're just eating
you know, a lot more of the kind of refined
calves and fun stuff. You can chew it and get
it down a lot faster, so you naturally eat a
lot faster. So they're probably my top two tips if
you're someone that really struggles with overeating is to mentally
divide that plate and build the balance plate first, and
(16:59):
put the fun stuff in a small amount on top.
Speaker 1 (17:02):
I think also keeping in mind that you will eat
what you serve yourself or are served. So if you
serve yourself a litterally eat it. If you serve yourself
a lot, you'll eat it. So if you do tend
to overdo things or are having more indulgent food, you know,
are having pavlovas and roast meats and things that are
hiring calories. As I said previously, just taste take smaller
amounts and then if you are genuinely hungry forty minutes later, sure,
(17:24):
but in many cases you've had more than enough. So really,
you know, practice serving yourself less. And I think, oh,
you know, it's similar to eating out. Don't waste calories
on things. You know, if your auntie does this amazing
potato bake, go for it. But if they're boring old
potatoes that you can have any day of the week,
maybe don't waste them. So really make sure that you're
enjoying the treats that you love the most would be
my other good advice. And yeah, if it is going
(17:46):
to be two large meals, you are better to split
it and sort of have smaller each of the times
as well. And things like desserts, it's about tasting them
because often you don't need the whole pudding. We can
do individuals of a lot of things as well. But
I think the other thing is if it all just
goes flies out the window and you massively overeat, and
you know, accept that the key thing is to prolong
a fast the next day and don't back it up
(18:08):
with another day of overeating, because it's the consistent overeating
that leads to weight gain over to say, the course
of a week. So anyone listening who has been working
on their weight, it's going to come as a spice
to hear that if you have one massive, debaucherous day,
you're not going to gain weight. It'll be some fluid gain,
it'll look it on the scales, but you're not gaining fat.
But if you back it up with boxing day and
(18:28):
the twenty seventh, that's when you'll be in at excess
come the end of the weekend of gained weight. So
you can probably get away with a day of heavy eating,
but you don't want to extend it past that. So
you might prefer to do it that way and really
have a big day of eating and then follow it
up with light days or be more moderate if you
know that the celebrations will go for several days of
that week.
Speaker 4 (18:47):
Yeah, And I think it's worth noting and again this
is about balance, it's not about restriction. It's worth noting
that if you're not hungry, it's actually okay to skip
a meal at this time of year, like if you've
had a big breakfast and anytime go out, any time
you're going to like an early dinner or an early
lunch and you get to lunchtime and you're like, I'm
just not actually that hungry.
Speaker 3 (19:07):
You can skip the lunch and just have a.
Speaker 4 (19:08):
Bit of you know, Yannie's favorite pavlover, if that's what
you want, Like, you don't always have to have every
meal is a completely balanced meal. Eat the vedz, eat
the protein just because you should. It is okay to
skip a meal. We're not saying you have to, but
if you genuinely am not hungry for it, like I
would with my breakfast, lunch, and dinner a Christmas Day.
If it wasn't you know, within my culture to not
(19:29):
offend people to you know, not skip meals and say
no to everything, I probably wouldn't even really have breakfast
because I'm not too hungry first thing in the morning.
I'm happy with my coffee. I might have a couple
of Christmas chocolates. I'm pretty good because my family doesn't
earlier lunch. So if you know, the people weren't going
through all of this effort to put on this big
breakfast bread, I probably wouldn't have too much, honestly, But
I think it's a nice reminder that it is okay
(19:50):
to skip a meal, or have a very light meal,
or just have a little bit of dessert for lunch.
If you've had a big breakfast and you know you've
got a big dinner to go, do enjoy a piece
of pavlover for lunch and that's okay. There are no
rules on Christmas Day. But I think where we do
get in our head and think I must eat this,
or I have to get my protein in, or I
have to have my salad. There are no rules on
Christmas Day. It is about just enjoying yourself, trying to
(20:12):
do it in a balance like if you can, and
not eating to the point where you feel sick. I
think eating to the point where you feel comfortable and satisfied.
That's a big difference between going to that next step,
which is then I've overeaten, I feel a bit too full,
I've got to undo my jeans, I've got to lie down.
So the goal for most of us is to eat
until where eighty percent satisfied and not one hundred percent stuffed,
(20:33):
And I think we'll just feel so much better overall,
irrespective of what we are eating.
Speaker 2 (20:37):
Well, you've heard it here.
Speaker 1 (20:38):
First, you're allowed to have over for breakfast on Christmas Day.
That's how what I've interpreted this to be. But it's
absolutely right. You know, I often see with clients for
your dies, you'll come back and to say I wasn't hungry,
so I had yogurt and fruit for dinner, and I
was thinking, well, don't eat. It's okay, it's okay not
to eat. You know, when people talk about metabolism reduction,
(20:58):
that comes from not eating. Looking after weeks of not eating,
not skipping a meal here or there, and if anything,
if you are not hungry, it's the body's way of
telling you don't need to fuel up. So again, if
on Boxing Day, if you're really not very hungry, don't stress.
Speaker 2 (21:12):
About not eating.
Speaker 1 (21:13):
Skipping a meal or even two is not going to
be the end of the world. Not that we're encouraging
people to proactively do it. We're saying, listen to your
body and if you genuinely don't feel like much and
can just have a coffee, go for it. And the
same I'm very similar on Christmas Day. You know, the
kids up are super early. I'll just have my regular coffee.
You know, I might have a little bit of what's
being served for breakfast because my parents are getting older,
(21:34):
they'll always cook up a big breakfast. But you know,
as you get older, you don't need as much food,
so you're probably okay with the one larger meal and
then just the sweet of dessert several hours later, or
some cheese play if that's what you like. But I
do think it's really worth discerning what is your favorite
parts of it and focusing on that rather than just
eating everything mindlessly. Now we found some special treats of
(21:54):
it when they anne Now. I think I've mentioned before
on the potty that I do love what Coals do
at Cress. I don't know if it's the branding I prefer,
because Wollies do have several different options as well. In
their Christmas group of foods. It particularly a shout out
to all these. I like the mini tarts that they do.
I think that they're really good portion control. They have
mini fruit tarts, they have mini caramel and I think
(22:16):
that's a really smart way of doing dessert platters. Yes,
but in general, in the last few years, I've really
preferred the Coals range of things. They've got a stuffed
chicken breast, They've got like several appetizers. I think last
year we reviewed a goats cheese stick that don't have
that this year, unfortunately. I like their little biscuits and
things they do, and I like you. My tails started
wagging when I recently saw the Christmas macaron selection, and
(22:41):
I was actually going to buzzle down to Coals and
grab them just because my kids like them too. They're
only ten bucks, but you had already done a taste
test with David and it very kindly brought them onto
the set today.
Speaker 2 (22:52):
We've got the packet there.
Speaker 1 (22:53):
Let's hold them up the celebrity appearance of the Coals macaron.
Speaker 2 (22:57):
Because these are a very good sweet option, aren't they?
You want to run us through nutritionally?
Speaker 4 (23:02):
Yeah? Yeah, and they're really nice too that they were
Christmas colors. They just come out of the freezer, so
you're supposed to saw them in the freezer. But as
a as a kind listener, let me know, you're supposed
to bring them to room temperature before you eat them.
Speaker 3 (23:13):
So when David and I hode into them.
Speaker 4 (23:15):
They're they're a bit chewy, so I did leave them,
but the venture a little bit, but clearly not long enough,
so they do belong in the freezer, but when you're
ready to eat them, bring them to room temperature.
Speaker 3 (23:23):
But they're really cute, you know, they're good little sizes.
Ten dollars for twelve.
Speaker 2 (23:28):
It's really friendly.
Speaker 4 (23:30):
Yeah, yeah, I was gonna say, we allowed to say
that's budget friendly, like I appreciate for some people that
might not be dog friendly, but for a macaron, like
if you go to a beautiful like petisserie or something,
you're paying.
Speaker 2 (23:39):
For dollars, not a dollar in the supermarket exactly.
Speaker 4 (23:42):
So this is really, we think, quite affordable. There's three
great flavors. There's pistachio, gingerbread, and raspberry. I thought gingerbread
would be my favorite. It is good, but the raspberry
one was actually my favorite. It really surprised me. It's
got like a like a layer of raspberry jam and
they're middle. They're really delicious. So you know, we're not
we're gonna run thro the idiots like these aren't healthy.
These are a Christmas treat, but they're delicious. They're very affordable.
Speaker 2 (24:05):
One hundred cow. I think you should run through the calories.
Speaker 4 (24:07):
Yeah yeah, okay, so yeah, they are a smaller size,
like if I went to a beautiful partisserie they would
be larger, so I like that they are a smaller size.
Speaker 3 (24:15):
You get four of each flavor, one.
Speaker 4 (24:17):
Hundred and six calories per serving, so for one two
point four grams of protein, four point two grams of fat,
less than a gram of that being saturated, fourteen grams
of carb, thirteen grams of sugar, which is expected in
a sweet treat, less than a gram of dietary fiber,
and insignificant amounts of sodium. So really good from like
a nice, you know, a treat perspective, and they're pretty tasty.
(24:38):
I think David and I landed on about seven out
of ten as a rating. I'm a bit of a
harsh critic, so for something to be nine or ten
out of ten, you know it's going to really rock
my world.
Speaker 3 (24:47):
But these are pretty.
Speaker 4 (24:48):
Good in the great scheme of things, and particularly just
that they're being so budget friendly.
Speaker 3 (24:52):
They're easy to store.
Speaker 4 (24:52):
You can buy them weeks out of Christmas, leave them
in the freezer, and then on Christmas morning bring them
out on the bench and they're ready to go for
a beautiful Christmas lunch.
Speaker 3 (25:00):
Go through the ingredients.
Speaker 1 (25:01):
No, I think that I don't know I need to do,
but I think that they're just great because they're a
million times better than short bread, mince pies, fudge. You know,
I'm about to make Rocky Road. Like all of those,
I always make piscotti. I always bring you some piscotti.
It's a lovely thing to make. But in terms of
labor intensive, because the other thing that was on my mind,
the Christmas baking costs a lot of money because the tobaio,
(25:23):
the chocolate that you need for Rocky Road, and the
nuts for the piscotti. Like, it's not insignificant to be
baking things and it's a ritual and I enjoy doing it.
But in terms of ten bucks for twelve, it's an
amazing dessert. And I remember last year and I haven't
seen it yet, but last year, early in the piece,
I brought an Audi ice cream Christmas log and it
(25:44):
was so amazing. They sold out everywhere, and I haven't
seen them this year, because if I do see them,
I'll be stocking up because again, it was an amazing
Christmas dessert and as an ice cream, a lot healthier
than say things like heavier pies and puddings and things
like that. So yeah, I think the supermarkets are doing
well and there's quite a few options that are portion controlled,
budget friendly, and certainly they're a great thing to be
(26:07):
putting out when people are coming over. So yeah, Calls,
you find them if there's any left. Still, we're getting clothes.
Speaker 3 (26:12):
It has an ice cream Christmas log. I did see it.
Speaker 4 (26:14):
I didn't buy it, so maybe we should review that
soon as well. But they do have what maybe looking
for one. I haven't seen what in aldi, but yeah, Calls.
Speaker 3 (26:19):
Did have one.
Speaker 1 (26:20):
Yeah, so there's plenty of good options. So I think
that that's good all right to wrap us up for
this final episode of The Nutrition Couch, and we should
also say a big thank you to our listeners because
the podcast continues to grow, and we've been running it
for four years now and I still I was walking
taco the other day and a lady came up locally
and said to me, Oh, I know you from the podcast,
and it's so nice to see that we can positively
(26:42):
influence people's lives and people who are getting a.
Speaker 2 (26:46):
Lot out of the podcast. It's really satisfying work.
Speaker 1 (26:48):
So I think we really want to say an extended,
really big thank you to our listeners, and we will
of course be back in twenty twenty six for another
amazing year. But to wrap us up, Leanne, when should
people get back on track after the Christmas period?
Speaker 2 (27:02):
What do you reckon?
Speaker 4 (27:03):
This is a great question, when what is the right
time to get back on track?
Speaker 3 (27:07):
You're not My answer is the next.
Speaker 4 (27:09):
Very next meal, not January the first, not Monday, not
the next day, literally the very next meal, because it
plays into that all nothing mindset when we're on the diet,
we're off the diet, we're being good, we're being bad.
And I genuinely think that you're going to really heal
your own relationship with food if you focus on every
meal being an opportunity to eat. That's what I teach
(27:30):
my clients. Every meal is a new opportunity. It doesn't
matter what happened at the meal before the day before,
what was happened the rest of that week.
Speaker 3 (27:38):
Every single meal is a new opportunity.
Speaker 4 (27:40):
So we did cover some of these tips and tricks
in a bonus episode episode three hundred and twenty three,
where we really talked about just tips and tricks around Christmas.
If you miss that one, it's the episode directly before.
This is a special bonus one we.
Speaker 3 (27:53):
Did for Christmas.
Speaker 4 (27:53):
There's a whole lot of great content in there, but
short and sweet. My answer, get back on track the
very next meal.
Speaker 1 (27:59):
I think it's really dangerous waiting till New Year. And
the reason I think that is that you write off
over a week, and that's sort of often people are
using it as an extreme opportunity to overeat, and I
think then it gets to generary one or two, you're
still partying. Then you think, I'll wait till the following week,
and you've lost two or three weeks of time and
often a couple of kilos. And the research on Christmas
(28:20):
weight gain shows that on average, adults gain about half
a kilo, but they never lose it. So if you
don't get back on track straight away and isolate those days,
you're right off two or three weeks of time, and
it's too long. Whether you're camping, whether you're holidaying, you
know you want to be up exercising and back on track.
And the best advice I can give you is get
rid of the Christmas food out of your house. Chances
are you've been eating a lot since the beginning of December,
(28:42):
particularly if you're in positions healthcare teachers, they get loads
and loads of chocolates and if they're around the house,
the extra puttings, the cakes, you keep eating it for
weeks at a time. You've had Christmas enough, so I
think you've got to get rid of it, give it away,
send it home, send it home with your boom of
family who love to keep leftovers, and you know, get
rid of it because otherwise you'll keep giving yourself permission
(29:03):
to overeat and then you'll be upset that you've gained
two or three kilo's in that short period of time.
So yeah, you know, and by all means, if you've
got a special lunch on New Year's Eve or New
Year's Day, sure indulge and enjoy, but I think try
and get that really tempting stuff out of the house
very quickly and get back on track asap, because yeah,
in my experience, waiting till January and every year I
release a research which is available on my website, and
(29:25):
I have to be honestly, and the biggest selling days
are twenty six. You know, really, I think that idea
of New Year's resolutions is a bit long gone now
and people want to get back on track quite quickly.
So yeah, I think straight away I'm with you if
you've got two days of celebrations that it's the twenty seventh,
but you don't want to lose that entire period and
write it off, all right. Have you got any final
Christmas messages for the for the fans, Land, No, just
(29:48):
wonderful Christmas, Thanks Fork for Christmas. Thanks with wonderful safe Christmas.
Thank you for your support, and we will be back
catch you next year. Yeah, we'll catch you next year,
and we will be returning. What's our date Land, the
seventh of Wednesday, the seventh of January, the first Wednesday,
because I think the one before is the news evil
News Day, So we'll be about the seventh of January
(30:10):
for our kickstart. And we wish you all a very
very merry Christmas, think of us constantly, and we'll see
you next year.
Speaker 3 (30:19):
Happy Christmas.
It was the week before Christmas and all through the
house mothers were stressed much more like.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Than a mouse. That's my attempt at Christmas.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
Right, with just a week or two before the holidays
officially begin, Leanne, it is time to wrap the Nutrition
Couch for another year and chat all things surviving the
next couple of weeks without having a nervous breakdown, which
I am clearly at risk of. Hello, I'm Sushie Burrow
and I'm Leanne Wood, and together we bring you The
Nutrition Couch, the weekly podcast that keeps you up to
date with everything you need to know in the world
(00:34):
of nutrition, as well as some festival festival festive survival tips.
We are going to discuss the ways you can enjoy
Christmas without completely overeating. We have a couple of our
favorite Christmas treats we want to share with you, and
our listener question is all about getting back on track
after the holidays.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
So, Leanne, it's been a year, hasn't it.
Speaker 3 (00:54):
It's been a year.
Speaker 4 (00:55):
It's crazy to think that it is December. I still
haven't got my Christmas tree up. Name was putting me
to shame. There's like there's a tensil everywhere and everyone's
got like ball balls on their gates, and I'm like,
I will get there.
Speaker 1 (01:06):
It's getting to the stage there where you can't get
away with it. Like when kids are little, you can
pretend Christmas is, you know, February, but you know your
kids are getting to the stage where they're you know,
at daycare and they're going to start to be expecting.
Speaker 4 (01:17):
You know.
Speaker 1 (01:18):
I get lists now a mile long from my kids
about what to have. You really can't skip on Christmas
too easily. But I think, you know, people say this
every year, but if you ask me what I've done
this year, I couldn't tell you, Like, I really don't
know the period between about July through till now.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
I have no idea what even happened.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
Like I know we have launched a serious supplement company
in the last couple of years that's doing incredibly well.
Speaker 2 (01:41):
And we are very grateful for that.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
But maybe that explained some of the whirlwind in which
we're living because I really don't know what I've done
or achieved. And I am trying to be very very
present for the children because my kids are almost ten
and they love Christmas. But I'm really like on their
verge of just losing it, losing my shit on a
daily basis. So anyone listening who feels exactly the same,
we feel you, and we're all just in it together,
(02:04):
aren't we. So hopefully this episode's a bit of fun
and just pulling some ideas on how to survive the
festive season, because in my experience, it really wraps up
this final kind of week before Christmas. People are done,
people at private schools already on holidays, a lot of
businesses have wrapped, and so I find it's quite a
good time of year in some ways to start preparations
(02:27):
for the next year, because I find that when it
hits Christmas and then Boxing Day and then people really
just like to do nothing for that sort of whole week.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
It's the only permission we ever have to do not much.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
And then you sort of roll into January and then
you think, oh, I wanted to get organized.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
I wanted to get on track with things.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
So I think that if you are lucky to have
a little bit of time and you have been super
organized with your shopping, and you are finding that the
kids down at school now and you've got a bit
more time, it is actually a really good time to
start to make some plans at this time of year
to make sure that you make the most of this time.
I think what I always encourage my clients to do
(03:07):
is really separate out special occasions from the mindless munching
all the time. So I think, when you've got things
like the Cabri favorites around, the chocolate covered nuts, the
short breads, the mince pies, it's very easy for a
couple of celebratory days to roll into three weeks of overeating.
So I think, just try and keep in mind the
(03:28):
biggest predictor of discretionary intake is availability. And no one's
saying you can't enjoy treats of the season, but we
are saying that there's a lot of treats of the season,
and if you can at least keep them out of sight,
out of mind, and keep them till when you are entertaining,
rather than having them on the display and really waiting
until it's that Christmas Eve Christmas Day period to enjoy them,
(03:48):
and then I say, get rid of them. You know,
the problem is when Christmas goes between the twenty fourth
and then the second of January, isn't it. It's just
a huge amount of extra food. And I think the
other thing that might sway listeners this season is that
it's also quite expensive. Now, you know, it's not like
you can, you know, just have extras and not, you know,
spend hundreds and hundreds of dollars like chocolates, like thirty
(04:10):
forty dollars for a seasonal chocolate present. So I think
reusing things and getting them to go the extra mile
is also important. There's also a thing I really like
at the supermarkets, and we'll discuss a couple of them
in a minute, but it's the individual portions of everything.
What I've noticed is that there's mini tarts, now there's
mini pavlovers. I think that goes a long way and
keeping portions controlled, so rather than serving yourself a massive
(04:33):
slavi of Pavlover, you can have a mini and still
enjoy it. And I guarantee you that you get just
as much enjoyment from the mini as you do the
massive slab. So I think, you know, catering and not
over catering is a really big part of it. And
keep in mind that whenever you have a big meal,
you want to buffer a lighter meal, so using things
like your salad, your seasonal seafood, your seasonal fruit and
(04:55):
turkey breasts. There's plenty of healthy options as well. You
don't have to fully over indulge with everything on offer,
So you know, there are a couple of ways that
I would just try and buffer it. And perhaps most
importantly and something that people don't think of, is this
is the time of year to move more. There is
no reason why you can't do a walk every Christmas
holiday day. Once the kids aren't at school, you know,
and work is wrapped up, you might be working from
(05:16):
home more or already started and you'll leave. You know,
there's no reason to not be doing more. You don't
have to do strenuous gym workouts, but going for a
couple of walks, or if you're at a beach holiday,
really factoring that in goes a really long way, because
the double whammy is eating heavy food and then sitting
down for hours on end. So I find you can
either write off Christmas Day and really, you know, do
(05:37):
whatever you like and then get straight back on track,
or a more moderate approach is just to you know,
focus on important meals where you are indulging, versus other
meals which just revert to your normal programming. I think
are the two positions that work quite well to enjoy
Christmas without completely overdoing it.
Speaker 4 (05:54):
Yeah, absolutely, because I think in the moment, it might
feel good to eat everything, but the reality is that
it doesn't actually make us feel good. Like how many
of us actually love that feeling of being like a
stuff turkey on Christmas Day?
Speaker 3 (06:06):
Like nobody likes that.
Speaker 4 (06:07):
Oh my gosh, you know, I've got pain in my stomach,
I need to undo my jeans, I need to lie
down on the couch. Like it might feel good in
the moment, but the reality is that it's not actually
that great for us. So I think some of these
you know, tips we can provide our listeners with around
Christmas can actually.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
Go a long way.
Speaker 4 (06:22):
And the first one is really like creating a Christmas
plan that feels good for you and just not leaving
everything up to chance. Like this is all in the
lead up to Christmas. Like if someone says to you, hey,
do you want to catch up for Christmas? Like be
really intentional and be like, yeah, can we go to
this I don't know, like new juice bar or a
new solid place that I've found. Don't be like yeah, sure,
what do you want to do, and then you know,
everybody ends up at the Italian place where there's heaps
(06:44):
of heavy food around. So it's like, actually be a
little bit more intentional with your plans this Christmas and
even Christmas Day. Like I'm my family maybe because it's
on the Dietitian, but I'm always on salad duty. My
brother always makes a potato bake, my parents are on protein,
and my sister always makes a dessert or so, so
we all have like a plate that we bring to
Christmas Day, so it's kind of like planned out. We
don't end up with like eight plates of dessert and
(07:06):
one tiny little salad to go between.
Speaker 3 (07:08):
Like twelve people.
Speaker 4 (07:09):
So I think creating a plan that is intentional but
still feels good where there are still some Christmas and
festive treats around, but there's also that balance between good
food as well.
Speaker 3 (07:18):
You know, if you've got two people on.
Speaker 4 (07:19):
Desserts, make sure someone's bringing a fruit platter and make
sure someone else is bringing more of like the festive
kind of treat. I've also been talking to my clients
about non negotiables, like in this festive season, there's so
much around, Like you said, Susie. There's so many treats,
there's so many social catchups. It tends to be from
the twenty fourth of December, you know, and then it
just continues right through it basically the new year. Whateveryone
(07:41):
goes right, I'm going to get back on track and
be really healthy now. So I really think during that
period of a couple of weeks, you have to have
some non negotiables. And I've been chatting to my clients
this week about that, and one of them is like,
my non negotiable is two exercise sessions a week. And
I'm like, that's great. And where's another client who's like
really into it. She's like, my non negotiable is five
exercise a week. So we're all that little bit different.
(08:02):
But you know, a non negotiable for you might be
a set bedtime every day, or it might be that
you're only going to choose one social occasion for the
week that you're going to have some alcoholic drinks, or
if you do like some alcoholic drinks, maybe you're non
negotiable is no more than two drinks at each occasion
that you drink at.
Speaker 3 (08:18):
Just things like that.
Speaker 4 (08:19):
Ro I think actually having a bit of a think
and a pre plan with this whole festive season can
actually be really beneficial for you, not only for your
health goals, but also just to keep you on track
so you don't overdo it and feel really I guess
that's the words lodgy afterwards.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
And I think another thing that sprung to mind when
you were chatting about it is there's a really common
diet mindset. And I know this will resonate with so
many of our listeners. They decide they're either on or
they're off. And I think this is such a dangerous
mindset because when you're off, it naturally defaults too, I'm
going to overeat. It's actually psychologically giving yourself permission to bing,
(09:00):
which is exactly what we do not like our clients
to be doing because we want them to have a foundation.
And then there'll be some occasions where you might eat
more and ideally than some occasions that you'll eat less
to be in energy balance. So I think if you're
already in yourself a programming, oh, I'm going to just
eat whatever I want that day I'm off, that is
a dangerous mindset because to me, then lean clients are
(09:22):
eating according to their head and not even what they
actually feel like. They're just giving themselves ruthless permission to overeat,
and I think that's a very dangerous model. So for
anyone who has a long history of dieting, and I
know from my own clients, and I'm sure you know
hundreds of our listeners are nodding their head right now,
I think something to really work on this holiday season
(09:42):
is enjoying celebratory foods in reasonable amounts, but not giving
yourself permission to overeat and that you're on or off,
because ideally you'll always be on unless there's a special
meal where you might have a larger meal and a dessert,
well then you're not going to need to back it
up with a second one. Now, for those people listening
who do have to events a day, so there's lots
of people who have Christmas lunch at one event and
(10:04):
Christmas dinner at the other, you know either all the
way to do it is just small amounts of everything.
So no one's saying you can't have a pudding here
or you can't but rather than having four prawns, have
one or two, have one slice of turkey breast, like,
have small amounts of everything you've tasted everything, but you
haven't overeaten. And let's be honest as well, there's often leftovers.
If you love that food so much, you can often
(10:26):
take some home with you and have it the next day.
There's nothing wrong with doing that, but giving yourself psychological
permission to stuff your face just because it's Christmas is
a really good thing to avoid doing this season and
practice eating and enjoying good quality food and moderation rather
than overeating.
Speaker 3 (10:41):
Yeah, one hundred percent.
Speaker 4 (10:42):
And I hear like, on Christmas Day, we do a breakfast,
we do a lunch, and we do a dinner between
the family, so it's a lot of eating, and it's
a lot of food.
Speaker 3 (10:50):
And my family likes food and we like to over cater,
so there's always stuff everywhere.
Speaker 4 (10:54):
And then everyone tries to get me to take everything home,
and I'm just like, no, no, no, We've got plenty.
Speaker 3 (10:58):
So I kind of go by that.
Speaker 4 (11:00):
I don't want to say real but guideline of I
really try to think to myself, what's the one special
thing I want here at the breakfast?
Speaker 3 (11:07):
Is it the ham cheese croissant?
Speaker 4 (11:08):
If someone made a beautiful like cheer coconut mango pudding
that I want to try, like, what's the one special
thing at the breakfast time, what's the one special thing
at lunch? And then same deal with dinner again, because
if not, you just end up trying everything and then
you get to your next you know, dinner or lunch
whatever it is, and you're like, oh my gosh, I'm
so full, I don't even need food yet there's another one.
Speaker 3 (11:27):
Then there's another one, and there tends.
Speaker 4 (11:29):
To be even more social things on the boxing day
as well. So I really do think that that's a
great guideline, just what's the one special thing I want here?
And then the rest of the plate is all about
that balance. It's the fresh food, it's the veggies, it's
the salads, it's the protein, and it's some fresh fruit
as well, because that all that stuff goes such a
long way to just making you feel so good at
Christmas time, but also getting in a lot of extra
(11:49):
nutrients as well. So for any listeners, if that guideline
resonates with you, like the one special thing, if you've
got multiple social occasions throughout this period, it's something that's
really helped my own that my own relationship with food
and I certainly use it with my clients, and particularly
those who have that very all or nothing approach to eating,
like you were describing Susie. They do quite well with
this one special thing guideline because it's not about restriction,
(12:13):
but it is about being intentional and not just eating
everything in sight for the sake of eating everything inside,
because it doesn't actually make us feel good long term.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
And one of the most powerful things you can do
too actual is that acknowledging that you will have larger
meals and perhaps several of them on the key holiday days.
The two rules I like are at least two hours
at least in between eating occasions, because what tends to
happen in the holidays is that you'll have the breakfast
in the morning, then an hour later a few favorites chocolates,
(12:43):
then someone will give your mince pie, and then you
actually never have a break from not eating. And that
is really important to kind of reset your digestive hormones
and stop you feeling sick.
Speaker 2 (12:52):
So even if.
Speaker 1 (12:53):
You've had a big meal at twelve or one, try
not to have anything until three, And even if you're
serving the desserts, wait two hours and if you can
go for a walk after the big meal. It will
make a huge impact on your blood glucose control. It's
going to stop you feeling sick, and it's really going
to mean that you can basically eat a bit more
rather than super loading with and just laying down in between,
which will make you feel worse. So if you can
(13:15):
factor in some movement with the kids around the block
on new bikes, or if you've got a dog, take
the dog out and just you'll feel so much better
for doing it. And yeah, a break in between eating
occasions is very, very important, and that it's hard to
do when there's a lot of sort of chocolates and
extras around on those holiday days at people's houses.
Speaker 3 (13:33):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (13:33):
Absolutely, And I guess that kind of leads this really
nicely into our next segment of the podcast, which is
all about enjoying yourself but not overeating. And I would
say for most of us, myself included, it's a fine line,
like it's actually really difficult to know when am I
satisfied versus when are my oops a little bit overfull
and have had a little bit too much. So my first,
I guess tip for our listeners would be to try
(13:56):
your best to eat slowly like I'm a fast person.
I'm a fast eater, I'm a fast drinker, I'm a
fast talker. My brain goes at a million miles an hour.
Speaker 3 (14:04):
So I really struggle with this.
Speaker 4 (14:05):
But a tip that's really helped me with my own
I guess journey with food is to kind of like
mentally divide my plate in half.
Speaker 3 (14:12):
I don't like physically do it. I just kind of
look at my.
Speaker 4 (14:14):
Plate, and when I finish eating half of it, I
make sure I pause, and I put my knife and
fork down, and I kind of check in with myself
and I'm like, right, am I still hungry? Am I
feeling satisfied? What's tasting really good? And just allow my
appetite a chance to catch up with how much food
have actually eaten, because I'm sure a lot of my
listeners would have heard the remark that it takes about
twenty minutes for your body to feel full, and where
(14:35):
that actually comes from is our gut releases hormones that
have to travel from the gut up to the brain
that then basically send a message up to the brain
to say, hey, you're starting to feel full. The Tommy's
fool you've had enough and then gives off some of
those like fullness type hormones. But if you're eating far
too quickly, like I'm guilty of, you don't get that
(14:55):
signal fuss enough, right, The signal comes, but it comes
too late where you've actually gone from satur fine to
over full, and by then it's too late you kind
of get that massive oh my gosh, I've had too much,
and by then ten minutes later you're.
Speaker 3 (15:06):
Even more full.
Speaker 4 (15:08):
So it is a really good, I guess tip to
kind of just mentally divide your plate and try to
keep an eye on the clock. And if you know
that you've done half your meal and not only five minutes,
it's a good idea to slow down, have a sipper water,
have a little bit of a chat with a conversation,
and then kind of come back to your meal. Give
it that sort of ten to fifteen minutes. And when
I explain this to a lot of clients, sometimes I
get pushed back because they say, oh, but my meal
(15:29):
will go cold. But the best thing about summer in
Australia is that, oh Christmas in Australia is that it's summer.
So we're not you know, we're not in the America,
we're not eating these hot, beautiful turkey potato type meals.
It doesn't really matter if you've got this beautiful salad,
little bit of cold turkey. It doesn't really matter if
you're taking a little bit longer to finish your meal.
From a digestive perspective, it's probably a good thing. So
that's probably my number one tip I guess to help
(15:52):
prevent over eating. And then I guess the other one
is to really make sure that plate's balance. And it
sounds simple, and it sounds like something that we're like, well, yeah,
of course I do that, But again, the reality is
that we get carried away with all of these like fun,
festive foods, and we load up on the potato bake
and the roast potato and all of this extra stuff,
and then there's like a little tiny corner left on
the plate. We add a little bit of salad, but
(16:14):
it's not that kind of half a plate of salad
that ideally we would like from a general health perspective.
So I think start by building the balance plate first
and then add the fun stuff on top. But most
people do it the opposite way around where all the
fun stuff goes on first, and there's very little room
left over for some of the actual real nourishment or
that goodness. So I think flip that build the balance
plate first, and that is what fills you up and
(16:36):
basically slows down your eating as well, because you've got
to chew a lot to get through all of those
veggies and salads and protein versus when you're just eating
you know, a lot more of the kind of refined
calves and fun stuff. You can chew it and get
it down a lot faster, so you naturally eat a
lot faster. So they're probably my top two tips if
you're someone that really struggles with overeating is to mentally
divide that plate and build the balance plate first, and
(16:59):
put the fun stuff in a small amount on top.
Speaker 1 (17:02):
I think also keeping in mind that you will eat
what you serve yourself or are served. So if you
serve yourself a litterally eat it. If you serve yourself
a lot, you'll eat it. So if you do tend
to overdo things or are having more indulgent food, you know,
are having pavlovas and roast meats and things that are
hiring calories. As I said previously, just taste take smaller
amounts and then if you are genuinely hungry forty minutes later, sure,
(17:24):
but in many cases you've had more than enough. So really,
you know, practice serving yourself less. And I think, oh,
you know, it's similar to eating out. Don't waste calories
on things. You know, if your auntie does this amazing
potato bake, go for it. But if they're boring old
potatoes that you can have any day of the week,
maybe don't waste them. So really make sure that you're
enjoying the treats that you love the most would be
my other good advice. And yeah, if it is going
(17:46):
to be two large meals, you are better to split
it and sort of have smaller each of the times
as well. And things like desserts, it's about tasting them
because often you don't need the whole pudding. We can
do individuals of a lot of things as well. But
I think the other thing is if it all just
goes flies out the window and you massively overeat, and
you know, accept that the key thing is to prolong
a fast the next day and don't back it up
(18:08):
with another day of overeating, because it's the consistent overeating
that leads to weight gain over to say, the course
of a week. So anyone listening who has been working
on their weight, it's going to come as a spice
to hear that if you have one massive, debaucherous day,
you're not going to gain weight. It'll be some fluid gain,
it'll look it on the scales, but you're not gaining fat.
But if you back it up with boxing day and
(18:28):
the twenty seventh, that's when you'll be in at excess
come the end of the weekend of gained weight. So
you can probably get away with a day of heavy eating,
but you don't want to extend it past that. So
you might prefer to do it that way and really
have a big day of eating and then follow it
up with light days or be more moderate if you
know that the celebrations will go for several days of
that week.
Speaker 4 (18:47):
Yeah, And I think it's worth noting and again this
is about balance, it's not about restriction. It's worth noting
that if you're not hungry, it's actually okay to skip
a meal at this time of year, like if you've
had a big breakfast and anytime go out, any time
you're going to like an early dinner or an early
lunch and you get to lunchtime and you're like, I'm
just not actually that hungry.
Speaker 3 (19:07):
You can skip the lunch and just have a.
Speaker 4 (19:08):
Bit of you know, Yannie's favorite pavlover, if that's what
you want, Like, you don't always have to have every
meal is a completely balanced meal. Eat the vedz, eat
the protein just because you should. It is okay to
skip a meal. We're not saying you have to, but
if you genuinely am not hungry for it, like I
would with my breakfast, lunch, and dinner a Christmas Day.
If it wasn't you know, within my culture to not
(19:29):
offend people to you know, not skip meals and say
no to everything, I probably wouldn't even really have breakfast
because I'm not too hungry first thing in the morning.
I'm happy with my coffee. I might have a couple
of Christmas chocolates. I'm pretty good because my family doesn't
earlier lunch. So if you know, the people weren't going
through all of this effort to put on this big
breakfast bread, I probably wouldn't have too much, honestly, But
I think it's a nice reminder that it is okay
(19:50):
to skip a meal, or have a very light meal,
or just have a little bit of dessert for lunch.
If you've had a big breakfast and you know you've
got a big dinner to go, do enjoy a piece
of pavlover for lunch and that's okay. There are no
rules on Christmas Day. But I think where we do
get in our head and think I must eat this,
or I have to get my protein in, or I
have to have my salad. There are no rules on
Christmas Day. It is about just enjoying yourself, trying to
(20:12):
do it in a balance like if you can, and
not eating to the point where you feel sick. I
think eating to the point where you feel comfortable and satisfied.
That's a big difference between going to that next step,
which is then I've overeaten, I feel a bit too full,
I've got to undo my jeans, I've got to lie down.
So the goal for most of us is to eat
until where eighty percent satisfied and not one hundred percent stuffed,
(20:33):
And I think we'll just feel so much better overall,
irrespective of what we are eating.
Speaker 2 (20:37):
Well, you've heard it here.
Speaker 1 (20:38):
First, you're allowed to have over for breakfast on Christmas Day.
That's how what I've interpreted this to be. But it's
absolutely right. You know, I often see with clients for
your dies, you'll come back and to say I wasn't hungry,
so I had yogurt and fruit for dinner, and I
was thinking, well, don't eat. It's okay, it's okay not
to eat. You know, when people talk about metabolism reduction,
(20:58):
that comes from not eating. Looking after weeks of not eating,
not skipping a meal here or there, and if anything,
if you are not hungry, it's the body's way of
telling you don't need to fuel up. So again, if
on Boxing Day, if you're really not very hungry, don't stress.
Speaker 2 (21:12):
About not eating.
Speaker 1 (21:13):
Skipping a meal or even two is not going to
be the end of the world. Not that we're encouraging
people to proactively do it. We're saying, listen to your
body and if you genuinely don't feel like much and
can just have a coffee, go for it. And the
same I'm very similar on Christmas Day. You know, the
kids up are super early. I'll just have my regular coffee.
You know, I might have a little bit of what's
being served for breakfast because my parents are getting older,
(21:34):
they'll always cook up a big breakfast. But you know,
as you get older, you don't need as much food,
so you're probably okay with the one larger meal and
then just the sweet of dessert several hours later, or
some cheese play if that's what you like. But I
do think it's really worth discerning what is your favorite
parts of it and focusing on that rather than just
eating everything mindlessly. Now we found some special treats of
(21:54):
it when they anne Now. I think I've mentioned before
on the potty that I do love what Coals do
at Cress. I don't know if it's the branding I prefer,
because Wollies do have several different options as well. In
their Christmas group of foods. It particularly a shout out
to all these. I like the mini tarts that they do.
I think that they're really good portion control. They have
mini fruit tarts, they have mini caramel and I think
(22:16):
that's a really smart way of doing dessert platters. Yes,
but in general, in the last few years, I've really
preferred the Coals range of things. They've got a stuffed
chicken breast, They've got like several appetizers. I think last
year we reviewed a goats cheese stick that don't have
that this year, unfortunately. I like their little biscuits and
things they do, and I like you. My tails started
wagging when I recently saw the Christmas macaron selection, and
(22:41):
I was actually going to buzzle down to Coals and
grab them just because my kids like them too. They're
only ten bucks, but you had already done a taste
test with David and it very kindly brought them onto
the set today.
Speaker 2 (22:52):
We've got the packet there.
Speaker 1 (22:53):
Let's hold them up the celebrity appearance of the Coals macaron.
Speaker 2 (22:57):
Because these are a very good sweet option, aren't they?
You want to run us through nutritionally?
Speaker 4 (23:02):
Yeah? Yeah, and they're really nice too that they were
Christmas colors. They just come out of the freezer, so
you're supposed to saw them in the freezer. But as
a as a kind listener, let me know, you're supposed
to bring them to room temperature before you eat them.
Speaker 3 (23:13):
So when David and I hode into them.
Speaker 4 (23:15):
They're they're a bit chewy, so I did leave them,
but the venture a little bit, but clearly not long enough,
so they do belong in the freezer, but when you're
ready to eat them, bring them to room temperature.
Speaker 3 (23:23):
But they're really cute, you know, they're good little sizes.
Ten dollars for twelve.
Speaker 2 (23:28):
It's really friendly.
Speaker 4 (23:30):
Yeah, yeah, I was gonna say, we allowed to say
that's budget friendly, like I appreciate for some people that
might not be dog friendly, but for a macaron, like
if you go to a beautiful like petisserie or something,
you're paying.
Speaker 2 (23:39):
For dollars, not a dollar in the supermarket exactly.
Speaker 4 (23:42):
So this is really, we think, quite affordable. There's three
great flavors. There's pistachio, gingerbread, and raspberry. I thought gingerbread
would be my favorite. It is good, but the raspberry
one was actually my favorite. It really surprised me. It's
got like a like a layer of raspberry jam and
they're middle. They're really delicious. So you know, we're not
we're gonna run thro the idiots like these aren't healthy.
These are a Christmas treat, but they're delicious. They're very affordable.
Speaker 2 (24:05):
One hundred cow. I think you should run through the calories.
Speaker 4 (24:07):
Yeah yeah, okay, so yeah, they are a smaller size,
like if I went to a beautiful partisserie they would
be larger, so I like that they are a smaller size.
Speaker 3 (24:15):
You get four of each flavor, one.
Speaker 4 (24:17):
Hundred and six calories per serving, so for one two
point four grams of protein, four point two grams of fat,
less than a gram of that being saturated, fourteen grams
of carb, thirteen grams of sugar, which is expected in
a sweet treat, less than a gram of dietary fiber,
and insignificant amounts of sodium. So really good from like
a nice, you know, a treat perspective, and they're pretty tasty.
(24:38):
I think David and I landed on about seven out
of ten as a rating. I'm a bit of a
harsh critic, so for something to be nine or ten
out of ten, you know it's going to really rock
my world.
Speaker 3 (24:47):
But these are pretty.
Speaker 4 (24:48):
Good in the great scheme of things, and particularly just
that they're being so budget friendly.
Speaker 3 (24:52):
They're easy to store.
Speaker 4 (24:52):
You can buy them weeks out of Christmas, leave them
in the freezer, and then on Christmas morning bring them
out on the bench and they're ready to go for
a beautiful Christmas lunch.
Speaker 3 (25:00):
Go through the ingredients.
Speaker 1 (25:01):
No, I think that I don't know I need to do,
but I think that they're just great because they're a
million times better than short bread, mince pies, fudge. You know,
I'm about to make Rocky Road. Like all of those,
I always make piscotti. I always bring you some piscotti.
It's a lovely thing to make. But in terms of
labor intensive, because the other thing that was on my mind,
the Christmas baking costs a lot of money because the tobaio,
(25:23):
the chocolate that you need for Rocky Road, and the
nuts for the piscotti. Like, it's not insignificant to be
baking things and it's a ritual and I enjoy doing it.
But in terms of ten bucks for twelve, it's an
amazing dessert. And I remember last year and I haven't
seen it yet, but last year, early in the piece,
I brought an Audi ice cream Christmas log and it
(25:44):
was so amazing. They sold out everywhere, and I haven't
seen them this year, because if I do see them,
I'll be stocking up because again, it was an amazing
Christmas dessert and as an ice cream, a lot healthier
than say things like heavier pies and puddings and things
like that. So yeah, I think the supermarkets are doing
well and there's quite a few options that are portion controlled,
budget friendly, and certainly they're a great thing to be
(26:07):
putting out when people are coming over. So yeah, Calls,
you find them if there's any left. Still, we're getting clothes.
Speaker 3 (26:12):
It has an ice cream Christmas log. I did see it.
Speaker 4 (26:14):
I didn't buy it, so maybe we should review that
soon as well. But they do have what maybe looking
for one. I haven't seen what in aldi, but yeah, Calls.
Speaker 3 (26:19):
Did have one.
Speaker 1 (26:20):
Yeah, so there's plenty of good options. So I think
that that's good all right to wrap us up for
this final episode of The Nutrition Couch, and we should
also say a big thank you to our listeners because
the podcast continues to grow, and we've been running it
for four years now and I still I was walking
taco the other day and a lady came up locally
and said to me, Oh, I know you from the podcast,
and it's so nice to see that we can positively
(26:42):
influence people's lives and people who are getting a.
Speaker 2 (26:46):
Lot out of the podcast. It's really satisfying work.
Speaker 1 (26:48):
So I think we really want to say an extended,
really big thank you to our listeners, and we will
of course be back in twenty twenty six for another
amazing year. But to wrap us up, Leanne, when should
people get back on track after the Christmas period?
Speaker 2 (27:02):
What do you reckon?
Speaker 4 (27:03):
This is a great question, when what is the right
time to get back on track?
Speaker 3 (27:07):
You're not My answer is the next.
Speaker 4 (27:09):
Very next meal, not January the first, not Monday, not
the next day, literally the very next meal, because it
plays into that all nothing mindset when we're on the diet,
we're off the diet, we're being good, we're being bad.
And I genuinely think that you're going to really heal
your own relationship with food if you focus on every
meal being an opportunity to eat. That's what I teach
(27:30):
my clients. Every meal is a new opportunity. It doesn't
matter what happened at the meal before the day before,
what was happened the rest of that week.
Speaker 3 (27:38):
Every single meal is a new opportunity.
Speaker 4 (27:40):
So we did cover some of these tips and tricks
in a bonus episode episode three hundred and twenty three,
where we really talked about just tips and tricks around Christmas.
If you miss that one, it's the episode directly before.
This is a special bonus one we.
Speaker 3 (27:53):
Did for Christmas.
Speaker 4 (27:53):
There's a whole lot of great content in there, but
short and sweet. My answer, get back on track the
very next meal.
Speaker 1 (27:59):
I think it's really dangerous waiting till New Year. And
the reason I think that is that you write off
over a week, and that's sort of often people are
using it as an extreme opportunity to overeat, and I
think then it gets to generary one or two, you're
still partying. Then you think, I'll wait till the following week,
and you've lost two or three weeks of time and
often a couple of kilos. And the research on Christmas
(28:20):
weight gain shows that on average, adults gain about half
a kilo, but they never lose it. So if you
don't get back on track straight away and isolate those days,
you're right off two or three weeks of time, and
it's too long. Whether you're camping, whether you're holidaying, you
know you want to be up exercising and back on track.
And the best advice I can give you is get
rid of the Christmas food out of your house. Chances
are you've been eating a lot since the beginning of December,
(28:42):
particularly if you're in positions healthcare teachers, they get loads
and loads of chocolates and if they're around the house,
the extra puttings, the cakes, you keep eating it for
weeks at a time. You've had Christmas enough, so I
think you've got to get rid of it, give it away,
send it home, send it home with your boom of
family who love to keep leftovers, and you know, get
rid of it because otherwise you'll keep giving yourself permission
(29:03):
to overeat and then you'll be upset that you've gained
two or three kilo's in that short period of time.
So yeah, you know, and by all means, if you've
got a special lunch on New Year's Eve or New
Year's Day, sure indulge and enjoy, but I think try
and get that really tempting stuff out of the house
very quickly and get back on track asap, because yeah,
in my experience, waiting till January and every year I
release a research which is available on my website, and
(29:25):
I have to be honestly, and the biggest selling days
are twenty six. You know, really, I think that idea
of New Year's resolutions is a bit long gone now
and people want to get back on track quite quickly.
So yeah, I think straight away I'm with you if
you've got two days of celebrations that it's the twenty seventh,
but you don't want to lose that entire period and
write it off, all right. Have you got any final
Christmas messages for the for the fans, Land, No, just
(29:48):
wonderful Christmas, Thanks Fork for Christmas. Thanks with wonderful safe Christmas.
Thank you for your support, and we will be back
catch you next year. Yeah, we'll catch you next year,
and we will be returning. What's our date Land, the
seventh of Wednesday, the seventh of January, the first Wednesday,
because I think the one before is the news evil
News Day, So we'll be about the seventh of January
(30:10):
for our kickstart. And we wish you all a very
very merry Christmas, think of us constantly, and we'll see
you next year.
Speaker 3 (30:19):
Happy Christmas.
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