I have today received 2 messages from followers asking me the bets way to get through Easter as healthy as possible.

Generally with clients, im a big fan of letting people make their own decisions however when it comes to eating clean and dieting (as much as i hate that term) there is nothing worse than undoing all of your hard work in one weekend!

Here are some tips to help you stay focussed

1) Easter means big money for supermarkets

For weeks now, even months, Easter has been pushed in our faces.
If you go to the supermarket, the cheap eggs are everywhere, then the even bigger eggs at the end of each isle oh and don’t forget all the signs up reminding you its easter!
You get through all of that and then there is the chocolate at the tills aswell!

However, with all this in your face marketing, you have the power to say no and if your determined to stay on track you have to say no because it all starts with not buying the sweet treats and not having them in your cupboards.

2) But friends and family will give me chocolate as gifts

This is a tough one as nobody likes to come across ungrateful and if your like my family, you will receive some if not a lot of chocolate on Sunday (if not before).
If this is the case you once again have a choice over whether you eat it or not.
As tough as it is, you do have the choice.
There are plenty of companies out there that take unwanted easter eggs and give them to people less fortunate than others or charities.
If you choose to eat it, please see my next 2 points.

3) Allow yourself some chocolate

What’s that! a fitness instructor telling you to have some chocolate!
Have i gone mad!?
No, sometimes when we deprive ourselves of something we really want, we end up wanting it even more!
So maybe allow yourself to have some chocolate, but please read my next point!

4) You do not have to eat it all in one day!

Now there is allowing yourself to have some chocolate and there is binging out on the stuff!
One thing we are always trying to stop is a binge on any food.
Now chocolate is a very hard thing not to binge on once you have started eating it so this needs a lot of discipline.
The sugar alone will have you gripped so its always best to have some after a decent meal and then put it away.
Oh and dont even think about having it for breakfast!

5) You do not need to change your eating routine

Easter weekend is a long weekend, we have Good Friday bank holiday, the weekend and then Easter Monday bank holiday aswell.
Generally people unwind a little bit more over long weekends and rightly so.
We all work hard and deserve to enjoy ourselves and i dont want this blog post to take that away from you.
However, one big thing i have noticed from working with clients for over 4 years is that the long weekend means all food routines go out of the window.

Once again, this is a recipe for disaster.

Make sure you get your meals in as normal.

Breakfast, a decent protein hit, Lunch and Dinner also the same and any snacks you need along the way.
Try not to include sweet snacks like chocolate too often or you are in trouble!
The sugar creates spikes in your blood which initially make you feel amazing and then your blood sugars crash causing your body to want that feel good spike again, you eat more chocolate and the cycle starts again.
Its called a reactive food.
Making sure you have eaten sensibly during the day and including a decent amount of protein in your meals (meats/fish) will stop the sugar spikes and keep your blood sugars level and therefore the need for sugary snacks/treats is a lot less.

Overall, enjoy yourself, send time with family and your loved one’s and make the most of the long weekend.
Enjoy a treat or 2 and try not to binge.

Have a fantastic Easter

Ross