LBD season

Boost your wellbeing ready for the festive party with a healthy and balanced diet, writes Zara Baker

Summer may feel like a distant memory already, with the earlier, darker evenings making us yearn to stay indoors and eat hearty meals. But under the layers of shirts, jumpers and coats, it can be easy to think a few extra pounds will go unnoticed. But come the festive party season we are all want to look our best. It’s creeping up quicker than ever, so now is the time to take stock of your autumn diet and make sure you’re getting all the nutrients you need.

The good fats
To lose weight, don’t cut fat completely from your diet.
For energy and wellbeing, choose foods rich in Omega 3 – essential fatty acids – such as:
• Avocados
• Oily fish
• Seeds: Flax seeds, Pumpkin seeds, Sesame seeds
• Nuts: Pecans, Brazil Nuts, Walnuts, Hazelnuts

In the summer it’s a lot easier to eat healthy: drinking lots of water and eating light salads are fine on hot days, but come winter, the darker days can leave us feeling lethargic and want to eat more and more comfort food. This is when it’s important to get your diet right. To lose weight, cutting out fat from your diet seems to be the option, but make sure it’s the saturated fats you’re reducing. Saturated fat, found in foods such as pies, meat products, sausages, cheese, butter, cakes and biscuits, can raise your cholesterol and increase your risk of heart disease. What’s more, these foods make us feel good for a while (chocolate craving?) but then we crash and can feel worse than before. To keep energy levels up and to boost your mood, be sure to include unsaturated fats in your diet. These essential fatty acids (see the good fats, above) support the cardiovascular, reproductive, immune, and nervous systems. Not enough essential fatty acids in your diet can contribute to allergies, depression, hyperactivity and high blood pressure. Unsaturated fats can help to lower cholesterol.

Combine foods high in essential fatty acids with the other food groups – a balanced proportion of protein, carbohydrates, and plenty of fruit and vegetables – and you will have the energy to carry on partying throughout the festive season. Before you crash and burn by following the latest diet fad in a bid to squeeze into that little black dress (LBD), be sure to keep your energy levels up with the right foods and right amounts. Keep exercising too. Now might be the time to turn to indoor workouts at the gym, but take a walk or run in the daytime as Vitamin D (the sunlight vitamin) is essential, even more so in winter, as it improves our mood and keeps our bones and immune system strong.

When it’s time for your office Christmas party, you can be healthy, energised and body confident.