Some dread it, others look forward to it like little children: the Advent season with its many temptations and never-ending invitations and feasts. The anticipation of vanilla crescents, gingerbread, Christmas punch or the festive roast at mummy's makes your eyes sparkle. At least until the guilty conscience kicks in.

Nutrition at Christmas: Weight gain inevitable?

There is a saying: We don't gain weight between Christmas and New Year, but between New Year and Christmas.75% of annual weight gain occurs during the Christmas period (according to the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition) and we don't lose this weight again during the coming year. On average, we only gain 0.5 kg every year, but that's 10 kg in 20 years. The situation is not so good for people who are already overweight. They gain an average of 2.3 kg per year.

Do we always have to feast?

The holidays could actually be a pretty healthy time of year if you think about it.

Because:

• You spend more time with friends and family.
• You finally get a few days off and can do things that you enjoy.
• It's the time of year when we spend more time in the kitchen and cook fresh food ourselves.

But it's up to us to take advantage of these positive basic conditions.

7 tips for good nutrition at Christmas

Meet up with people you really like and avoid annoying compulsory events as much as possible. Use the days off for things that give you energy and joy. And when it comes to food and cooking, you don't need to worry that I'm going to spoil your enjoyment of all the goodies. There are a few simple tips on how to avoid the pitfalls and still feel fit after the holidays.

1. eat what you love, leave out what you like or what you simply eat at Christmas

You're not particularly keen on Christmas stollen or panettone but still eat a piece of it because your work colleague won't let go? Your mother got Christmas cookies from the supermarket as a present from your neighbor and puts them out for you with your coffee? Instead of thoughtlessly reaching for sweets that are simply available now, enjoy the things that you really love. So ask yourself the question: "Do I really love this and would I prefer it to anything else?" before you reach for it.

2. keep it to one gourmet meal a week

Instead of snacking every day and then feeling totally overeaten when the holidays really get going, why not just keep it to one gourmet meal a week? Plan ahead a little and only feast on meals that are really worth it.

3. don't skip meals and don't go hungry

You think that if you're invited out tonight, you'll just skip lunch to save calories? What sounds logical at first glance doesn't work out in practice, because the likelihood is extremely high that you will develop such an appetite by dinner that you will pounce on everything on offer at the aperitif and eat far too much (and too quickly).

Puff pastries, rolls, potato chips, salted nuts and whatever else is typically offered before a meal is not the ideal food to make you feel relaxed and pleasantly satiated afterwards. Especially when I've eaten far too much of it. You are heavy on the stomach and make you feel full even before the starter is served. So my tip: don't skip any meals and eat something healthy at lunchtime that will keep you full for a long time. Make your own hummus with vegetables. Scrambled eggs with vegetables. Leftovers from the previous day's dinner. Salad with chicken.

4. bring something of your own

Many of our customers know which foods are not good for them. And who wants to toss and turn in bed for hours after a great invitation, struggle with stomach ache and bloating or be annoyed by a headache? The antidote is: offer to bring a dish for the host! He will certainly be happy about a little less work and the other guests will get to enjoy another dish. Win-win. For example, you could bring vegetable sticks with a delicious quark dip for an aperitif. A quinoa tabouleh (gluten-free and vegan) for the buffet. Or Christmas cookies with extra little sugar.

5. wear body-hugging clothing

Leggings with an elastic waistband, wide sweaters and dresses without a waistline often tempt you to reach for a second or third time, even though you're already full. My tip: wear your skinny jeans, or the fitted wrap dress, the tight-fitting blazer or something else that makes you feel slim and slender. Firstly, it looks great when you dress up a little and secondly, you will automatically eat smaller portions that will fill you up just as much, believe me.

6. Mindful eating

This may sound a little ridiculous, but many people hardly realize when they are eating. They're talking, watching the kids, checking their cell phone for new messages and putting spoon after spoon into their mouths without really paying attention to the food. Switch on your senses when you eat: how does the food look, how is it arranged on the plate, how does it smell, how does it feel on the tongue and so on. As a result, you will automatically eat more slowly, chew better and actually notice when you are starting to feel full.

7 Eat a good breakfast.

Breakfast sets the tone for the whole day. If you start with something super-sweet in the morning, the likelihood that it will stay that way for the rest of the day is simply incredibly high. It means that you'll be hungry again after just a few hours and reach for the next one.

If, on the other hand, you eat something in the morning that keeps you full for 4-5 hours and you can then relax and start preparing your lunch, you'll make much better food choices. You can also find tips from us for breakfast ingredients without sugar, maybe there's something you'll try?

Healthy eating at Christmas

As you can see, there are a few things you can pay attention to during the holidays without having to ban certain favorite foods. My top priority is always: the main thing, you eat real, natural foods, then it's okay to have roasts, desserts or pastries.

Prepared with love and enjoyed wisely, these Christmas treats will certainly not do you any harm! I think it goes without saying that you should simply leave out things that you know from the outset are not good for you and replace them with other things.

But if you would still like a few specific tips on how you can make the 2-3 festive menus a little healthier, then I also have this for you:

• Eat only vegetables, crisp salad and possibly steamed potatoes with your meat. This helps to break down the excess uric acid in the meat. (Simply leave out bread, pasta or other pasta products).
• Season your roast with caraway seeds to aid digestion.
• Eat garlic or artichokes with your roast to reduce the risk of cholesterol rising and prevent bloating or nausea.
• Mustard has a beneficial effect on the production of digestive secretions in the stomach and intestines, stimulates intestinal movements and also has a regulating effect on blood pressure. It also has antibacterial properties, so it has an anti-inflammatory effect. It therefore makes sense to eat mustard or horseradish, cress or radishes, which contain mustard oils, with fatty meals and to generally pay attention to an anti-inflammatory diet.
• Replace meat with cold-water sea fish such as salmon, mackerel or herring to counteract high blood pressure.
  Use cinnamon for cookies, compotes or gravy, as the chromium it contains lowers blood sugar levels.
• Bake your own Christmas cookies and use less sugarthan is specified in the recipes. Butter can also be partially replaced with quark. Dare to experiment!

Do you have any tips and tricks for getting through the holidays with a good feeling in your stomach? Do you pay attention to anything during these days or do you tend to live by the motto "close your eyes and go through"?