Chirstmas Party Season!

Its that time of year again! Christmas Party season has arrived  far sooner than I expected it. This time of year can be a bit of a minefield and a good excuse to give up on your weight loss. I did a guest post last year on Skinny Doll's blog all about why its not a good idea to give up, so if you are feeling a little overwhelmed with the weeks to come check it out!

So you've made the decision to stick with it, what do you do next? You need to make a plan! Every year I mark on my calendar what events I have in the month of December, so I can see what days I am likely to need my weeklies for, and what days I have no excuse to lose the run of myself. Its really easy after a couple of bad days to lost heart and throw in the towel and having a visual representations like this makes it easy to keep yourself on track. 

Back at the start of September I set myself a goal to lose 9lbs by Christmas, and with 4 weeks to go I am down 2 pounds.  I have had a good few bad weekends over the past 2 months and it completely ruins the good work I have put in Monday to Friday. Realistically I am not going to lose 7lbs in the next 4 weeks, but if I can keep on track for any time I have no event I can lose a couple more.  

On the days I do have events, I will be using a few tried and tested tips to limit the damage:

• Drink lots of water, try to have at least half a glass of water for every alcoholic beverage (really it should be a full glass but if you can even get in half a glass you'll be doing well).
• Don't go out hungry!! You can fill yourself up on lots of low pp meals throughout the day, zero heroes and high protein meals that will keep you going.
• Where possible check out the menu in advance and try to make healthy choices before any drink has been taken. Don't be afraid to be fussy and ask for amendments to be made to menu options. 
• Stay away from the finger food, hundreds and hundreds of empty calories. If you are heading out for a night where its drinks and nibbles eat a full meal before. I like to carry a purse without a strap so when I have a drink I have no free hands to reach for the spring rolls & sausages.
• If you're going to a friends house, offer to help with the food/drink and bring some healthy options with you. 
• If you want, allow yourself a night or two where there is no counting and you can go mad. Just make sure its planned, ends when it should and is 100% guilt free! 

As the days go by I'll be keeping track of how many propoints I use, and any days with no events the plan is to keep to my 26pp wherever possible and I'll check back in every week with how I am getting on. To be honest this weekend will be my worst until Christmas week. If I can get through this weekend I'll be doing well!

Would love to hear how you all keep track over the silly season, so let me know in the comments!