So the Christmas season is upon us and I’m sure you will already have been to a few Christmas dos. Over the next two weeks I want to explain how you can limit the damage that Christmas can do to your waistline.

Don’t worry, I’m not here to ruin your Christmas and trust me I will be indulging, too. But I want to give you a few tips to make sure you don’t go crazy and pile on as much as a stone, or more, which is so easy to do.

Eat mince pies, but don’t eat ALL the mince pies!

By all means, have a mince pie, or cocktail sausage, or mini sausage roll. But eat dinner BEFORE you go to a party where there are likely to be nibbles, and do your very best to eat only the nibbles you really want, and not the deep-fried rubbish that is available.

Think of all that hard work you’ve put in to look good in your little black dress and don’t undo it by eating cheap party food.

Drink the mulled wine, but not ALL the mulled wine Same principle as above. Christmas offers ample opportunity to over-indulge in alcohol. But life still goes on, you still have to get up, walk the dog, go to work.

Do you really want to do all that with a constant hangover? Why not pick your drinking sessions wisely, indulge in a glass of champagne or red wine you’ll really enjoy instead of six pints of your usual tipple.

Have a minimum of four alcohol-free nights each week; don’t ‘save’ your calories for alcohol and drinking on an empty stomach will guarantee you the worst hangover ever the next day. It also leads to you getting tipsy far quicker and more than likely you’ll be in bed by 9pm – as well as being the laughing stock of the office party.

Also, drinking when hungry leads to bad food choices later in the night.

Eat a protein rich meal before leaving for your Christmas night out and I promise you’ll feel better the next day.

And don’t skip your exercise class – December sees class numbers falling as ‘life’ gets in the way. The usual excuses are ‘parties’, ‘late night shopping’, ‘kids off school’, ‘exhausted’: I’ve heard them all!

Think about it. Have you ever really regretted doing a workout? Of course not. You know that going to your exercise class makes you feel better, and that one hour of ‘you’ time is more important than ever during this busy period.

It will refresh you, recharge the batteries and burn off some of those excess calories.

Next week I’ll have more advice on how to limit damage over Christmas Day and New Year... and the bit inbetween.

You can contact Lisa Cuerden at lisa@lisacuerden.com or via her website at lisacuerden.com