David Bryant's nutritional tips for the festive season!

VenuesWest Brand Ambassador, Para-triathlete and Nutritionist David Bryant has put together 10 nutritional tips to help us get through the festive period.

1. Enjoy Christmas Day! It’s just one day, and a special day at that, so it won’t make or break your health goals. 
2. Check your calendar. If you’re socialising more than three times in a week, choose one occasion to enjoy yourself and try to make more sensible food and beverage choices on the other occasions.  
3. Start the day right. Start the day well with a good brekky and lunch and you will make better choices later in the day. Don’t rock up to a party starving.
4. Exercise early in the day. Start the day with exercise if you can. Let’s face it, the likelihood of going for the training session in the evening when its hot or when you are invited to a social occasion is much less likely to happen compared to the morning when you are a bit more free!
5. Half plate veg rule. We will be exposed to some beautiful buffets across the festive period, aim for ½ of your plate to be vegetables and salad. You can also aim to make the other part of your plate ¼ protein and ¼ carbohydrate derived.
6. Stay hydrated. Make sure to stay hydrated across the day, not just around exercise. Keep your wee on the clearer side as they say.
7. Maintain a good sleeping pattern. To maximise sleep quality, aim to still go to bed and wake up at the same time most days. Sleeping in and/or staying up late all throughout the holidays will compromise your sleep quality. 
8. Quality over quantity. Enjoy the special proteins that this time of year has to offer - seafood, quality meats and dairy, instead of buying cheaper cuts of meat and eating excessively.  
9. Buy in season. It's such a good time of year for delicious fresh fruit and veg, they are even cheaper too. 
10. Say no to new year's goals with time limits. Say YES to new lifestyle habits that you can sustain all year, without a time limit.