12 Festive Tips from our physios at Marna!

With summer holidays in full swing and the Christmas festivities beginning for some, it can be tempting to let our healthy habits go. Kick start 2023 well by doing what you can to maintain your eating and exercise habits! Here is a list of recommendations to help guide you through this busy period.

Exercise with Marna Physio / Strength and Conditioning coach Sam Slykhuis:

1. Something is better than nothing! If you’re busy or lacking the motivation to elevate the heart rate, remember shorter or less frequent sessions still count… especially this time of year! Often the hardest part is getting started. Plan for a 15 minute walk in the morning and go further if you feel like it!

2. Aim to get more incidental exercise. Park your car further away from the shops, take the stairs rather than the lift, ride your bike rather than drive!

3. If doing gym and struggling to maintain your regular routine (see prior posts on Instagram around frequency programming) consider changing your split. It may be beneficial to swap to a full body routine in the gym and do this 2 x per week rather than train a different body part 5 x per week.

4. If short on time at the gym prioritise big compound movements (like squats, bench press, seated rows) and temporarily cut out the isolated lifts (like bicep curls, knee extensions).

5. Train with a friend!

6. Complete frequent ‘movement snacks’. This may include walking for 5 mins between meals or doing a few sit to stand exercises between courses! A movement snack could help offset your festive snacks.

If you would some guidance with exercises or establishing a routine book in with Marna Physio today and the team will help get you started!

Nutrition with Marna Physio / Nutritionist Deb Friend:

1. Always aim to hit your protein levels each day. Among other important roles, protein is essential for increasing satiety. What this means is that making smart food choices, including foods rich in protein, will help keep us fuller for longer. This will help prevent overindulging on undesirable, snack foods or going back for second or even third helpings (like we tend to do on Christmas Day). There are plenty of good proteins on the table this time a year – seafood, chicken, turkey, beans, tofu and more!

2. If you are a sweet tooth and love the rich foods consider filling yourself up with the vegetables in the main course to reduce the likelihood of overindulging at desert! Foods with lots of fibre like vegetables are very important and keep you satisfied!

3. Drink plenty of water throughout the day. This will help keep satiety levels lower and may help reduce the hangover/food coma!

4. Watch the liquid calories! Having a drink with friends and family is a big part of Christmas so you shouldn't feel you have to deprive yourself of that enjoyment. What I suggest is just being a little more mindful of the liquid calories found in certain drinks when considering your food choices for that day.

5. Practice mindful eating It is common for eating to become a mindless act, often done quickly as we are rushing about the house, too busy to sit and eat slowly (and mindfully). It takes our brain up to 20 minutes to realise we are full. When we eat too fast, the fullness signal may not arrive until we have already eaten too much. This is very common in binge eating, resulting in overeating.

6. Cut back on taste testing. It is common to spend a lot of time cooking and baking during the holiday season. One little tip is to make sure that we are not hungry while cooking. It is much easier to go overboard on taste-testing when our stomach is growling. I like to prep my food first thing in the morning around breakfast time. As much as I love my sweet treats, I have no desire to taste test these at breakfast time!

If you would like some nutritional advice contact Deb Friend or follow ‘thenourishedfriend’ on Instagram for more great tips!