How To Stick To Your Diet After Christmas!

It's the most wonderful time of the year, where we all eat, drink, be merry, and usually put on about 2 stone. While January is always a good start for a healthier lifestyle, it can even more difficult to actually stay on your diet.

I have been on and off diets for years, but have successfully lost 6 stone in total.

I have always said that I have found sticking to a diet harder than taking the decision to get started in the first place. I wanted to share some of my tips for sticking to a plan, in the hope that it may help you as well.

Set Realistic Expectations

We all want to lose weight as quickly and easy as possible, and we always have a target weight or goal. Sometimes, we need to break these targets and expectations down into more manage chunks. For example, telling yourself you need to lose 4 stone in 3 months is a big challenge and one that you may not be able to keep up with.

When you first start, perhaps set a goal of making a loss per week, no matter how big or small that is. This helps to keep your motivation going as it is more easily achievable. Once you have made a start, you can slowly 'widen the goal posts' and increase your targets.

If you have a set amount of weight to lose, perhaps break it down into a stone at a time and have a lot more mini targets and goals. This way you get more of a sense of progression.

Preparation & Planning

I always say that the key to my success has been in the preparation and planning. I will always sit down on a Sunday and plan out our meals for the week. Once I have the meals for the week sorted out, I put a shopping list together and order online.

It is so much harder to stick to a diet when you don't know what you're going to eat and how, which always leads to the temptation to get a take out or stick something easy and less healthy in the oven.

I have made and created my own pink planners, with meal planning pages, exercise planner pages and food diary, which can help keep the planning process pretty! They are available here.

Planning it and tracking what you eat gives you a real sense of control. Logging what you eat daily can help you keep on top of everything, and on the weeks where you may not have the biggest of losses, you can assess why and which foods didn't work too well for you.

Make a List of Reasons Why You Started

We all have different reasons for wanting to embark on a healthy lifestyle. Sometimes it is just to lose a few extra pounds, and sometimes it could be a set amount of weight to fi into a dress for a special occasion.

Whatever the reasons, write them down, and write down as many as you can. That way, any days that you struggle with motivation, you can look back at that list and remind yourself exactly why you started in the first place. You can add to it as well as you carry on, such as adding how much you have lost so far on the way.

Don't Let 1 Bad Day Escalate Into a Bad Week

It is impossible to stay on your plan 100% of the time. There are always distractions and sometimes life does get in the way. The key to getting past this is to not let one bad day turn into a bad week, or even a bad month. If you have a bad day, draw a line under it, and start the new day afresh.

It is always possible to do damage limitation after 1 day fallen off the wagon, but it is a little more difficult to control after a week off plan!

Find Tasty Alternatives To Your Favourites

I love KFC, and I love Chinese takeaway- They're one of my biggest takeaway temptations! One way I found to get past these cravings is to make my own low calorie, healthier versions of this.

It is really easy to make lower calorie and low fat versions of your favourites. Check out my KFC Fakeaway and Chinese Fakeaway

If you get sweet cravings, then find a fruit that is sweet and satisfies those cravings

Drink Water When You're Hungry

It's a really common misunderstanding that we have with our bodies, that when we feel hunger it's because we're hungry for food. You can also feel hunger when your body is thirsty!

Any time I feel hunger, I always have a drink first, wait 10 minutes, and if I still feel hunger after drinking I will seek out some food.

We should all be drinking a minimum of 2 litres of water day- especially when losing weight. Drinking also water helps to flush out the fat that we lose.

Find Support From Friends

It can be even more difficult to stay on plan when you're doing it alone. There are a lot of diet groups out there, but this isn't always for everyone. There is a lot of support online through forums or Facebook.

Look for weight loss support groups specific to the diet plan you're following online, and you can instantly find support and friends.

I have a weight loss support group of my own on Facebook, that I would be happy to have you in. We're a friendly and supportive bunch!

Do you have any tips I've missed? How do you stay motivated? Let me know in the comments below.

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Hotel Du Vin is a luxury hotel and bistro in the centre of the Exeter city, where it's historic walled gardens and striking architecture make for the perfect setting for any occasion, grand or small. It also boasts a full spa and pool.

This gloriously grand building used to hold the west of England eye infirmary, and I was a regular visitor as a child with eye issues. There is even still a nod to this inside the hotel, with an old sign still hanging in the hallway.

Within the hotel is it's popular Bistro which offers and elegant and informal setting for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I have always had my eye on visiting Hotel Du Vin as I had heard great things about it, as both a hotel and the bistro.

We were invited to sample their 2 course Christmas menu, and couldn't wait to have our first visit there. The Bistro itself has high ceilings and beautiful lighting throughout, which creates a gorgeous atmosphere. The kitchen is large and open, so you can see the chefs preparing your meal. I really love this, as the food geek in me loves to see where everything comes from.

It was a nice quiet evening, and all the staff were extremely friendly and polite. The Christmas menu offers either 2 or 3 courses of traditional Christmas items with a Hotel Du Vin twist.

My boyfriend started with the Duck liver parfait, which was served with plum and figgy chutney and brioche. It was beautifully presented and he said it was deliciously rich and creamy. The chutney had the perfect amount of sweetness to balance all the flavours perfectly.

I chose Christmas cured smoked salmon with cranberry toast, truffle crème fraîche. I don't normally choose salmon if it is available on the menu in the rest of the year, but there is something about it that I find Christmassy, so wanted to give it a go. The favours of the salmon were wonderful, and the crème fraîche had such a delicate hint of truffle. A squeeze of lemon brought all of the flavours to life, and I really enjoyed the whole dish.

The main event was toasted free range turkey ballotine with all the traditional trimmings, including bread sauce, pig in blanket and cranberry sauce. We ordered some extra mashed potato and roast potatoes, and the rest of the veg was as served.

The gravy was deliciously rich, and the turkey so succulent and flavoursome. There was a great variety of vegetables, and the perfect portion size. This really was a perfect Christmas dinner out for me. You often find that Christmas set menus are mass produced, lack flavour and care, and contain generic items. This menu was fresh, delicious, and each item and a luxurious Hotel Du Vin twist.

We had a really lovely evening, and would love to visit here again to try their other menus, including their afternoon teas.

Food ***** Service ***** Atmosphere *****

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