Don't indulge too much and you'll feel better come New Year
As the party season approaches even the most avid gym bunnies want to stray form the four walls of the gym to eat, drink and be merry.
As a professional rugby player, James Haskell needs to be in top shape regardless of the season, however even professional athletes like to indulge over the Christmas season, so James is sharing his top tips for staying healthy while still enjoying yourself.
The key foundation is to get your base day-to-day diet right. Achieve this and there is no problem in indulging and eating the foods you want providing the meals you have the rest of the time are good and healthy.
As a firm rule try to stay away from processed foods; high sugar and salt content meals as well as white carbs. For example white bread and white pasta. Sadly most of the Christmas and New Year treats you want will contain sugar and other rubbish, so you’ll get your fix from these. Try to have a lot of vegetables with every meal. The more colours you can have on your plate the better it is. You can’t over-dose on vegetables, so please don’t panic!
Vegetables will give you a good hit of vitamins and nutrients, as late nights and big drinking sessions can run you down and lead to illness. Every meal should have a good source of protein as well – don’t load up on carbs as it will only lead to taking out an ultra-expensive gym membership come January.
Good hydration is absolutely key -all those office parties and Christmas drinks are going to mean you consume more alcohol than usual. What you drink has a great effect on the number of calories you consume; how you will feel the next day; the state of your body weight and so forth. If you normally put on a bit of festive padding over Christmas then it might be a good thing to watch.
Think about avoiding really sugary mixers or the dreaded Alchopops. If you want to have a drink then a trusty Vodka, fresh lime and soda - is the lesser of evils, it’s reasonably low in calories. Cranberry juice is another good mixer to have if you don’t fancy the lime and soda approach.
Ensure to make realistic training targets over the Christmas period, instead of telling yourself you are going to do a 1 hour training session each day, why not set a self-basic and readily achievable -15 minutes of some circuit training with some cardio work thrown in.
Boost your health by adding some supplements to your diet. I would recommend taking vitamin D, as this can help with recovery! We would normally get this from the sun, but seeing it during the party period sadly a few rays are few and far between. I would also suggest taking some Omega 3 (EPA) fish oils which most people are deficient. Omega 3 helps in growth and repair, as studies have shown it can be a factor in helping prevent disease” says James.
Lastly one thing that you should add to your diet to help with immune boosting is virgin Coconut oil. It’s a great saturated fat that your body needs, and is full of MCTs to provide energy. It is very high in Lauric Acid and Monolaurin, which help support the immune system, killing bacteria and pathogens, which makes it ideal for people suffering from any digestive complaint. Use to cook with, or have with a cup of coffee to boost your day. Tagaloa organic extra virgin coconut oil is an essential food product for anyone serious about nutrition. Coconut oil is the perfect food product for helping people excel in their chosen sport, being as it is one of the most versatile and effective natural sports and dietary supplements.