My favourite part of the year…HOLIDAYS!! Here are some of my top tips to keep you looking and feeling your best throughout the next few months.

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Remember to enjoy even the little things that pass you by and give your mind and body the best opportunity to thrive.

Here are my top 4 tips:

1) No restrictive diets and stay active

The worst habit that often leads into the holiday season is this instant reaction to start dieting to look and feel your best. The problem with this habit is you can still look and feel your best without throwing yourself into an unhealthy cycle that often makes people feel anxious because of a restrictive diet, guilty relationships with certain foods or even failure if you slip up on your lettuce dinners and juice breakfasts.

The other habit that often occurs is people stop exercising during school holidays because things are busier.

You need to stay on top of your game and having a clear mindset, especially when enjoying foods you would not normally, so keep up your physical activity.

GingerNotes best approach, apart from investing into a nutritional expert to guide you with a tailored approach, try adding in some additional fitness classes. Check out what is local in your area and recruit a motivational buddy to keep active consistently. It is amazing what results you can achieve through regular exercise, especially a motivational mindset and these days most places have a crèche you can pop the kiddies in for a small fee.

2) Plan ahead and stock up

Being caught off guard with spontaneous visits from family and friends, who also bring more hungry and active children to feed, can leave you vulnerable to quick and painless meals to please the crowd. Ordering pizza or takeaway is tempting but not the healthy solution. You need to be prepared with staples to whip up homemade alternatives, one option is to throw the rice cooker on, dice up some veggies, stir in plenty of eggs and some soy sauce to recreate a delicious healthy fried rice. Then there is the homemade pizza option by getting everyone involved to make their own flavour without any hidden sugars, trans fats and heavy salt.

GingerNotes best approach, when particular food items are on sale this is a good time to stock up and freeze foods that will get used over the holidays (wholegrain bread, frozen berries and chicken thighs are my favourite). Get baking early to have a few wholesome treats on hand; instead of the heavily processed bakery goods or chocolate. You can easily spend a Sunday afternoon whipping up some biscuits and a cake to freeze for those rescue moments.

3) Stay hydrated and wear sunscreen 

All of a sudden there are long days in the sunshine, plenty of celebration with wine spritzers and more food than you would normally see in a day. Fluids are critical for good digestive health, skin health and overall wellness.

GingerNotes best approach, one trick to staying healthy over the holiday season is to fall in love with homemade ice tea and infused waters stored in the fridge overnight. Grapefruit, mint & ginger root is my favourite and Voss are the perfect glass bottles in the supermarket, try creating some for the week ahead. Now, to avoid toxin build-up in the body and poor dehydrated and pigmented complexion you MUST protect your skin from the sun. It is a fast way to become dehydrated and off your game when you are needed the most so just start getting into the habit and have a bottle on the kitchen bench as a reminder.

4) Eat more raw foods

A sure way to provide you with the nutrients needed to protect, energise and revive the body and mind as the days roll into nights.

Raw foods also provide vitamins and minerals, dietary fibre and enzymes needed for facilitating detoxification, supporting the nervous system and optimal digestive health – key components to weight loss should this be your goal.

Australians do not eat enough vegetables and it is so important we get on top of this statistic. Yes the body may seem like it can function on days you may skip the veggie and fruit bowl, but let me tell you…over time…this will lead to general wear and tear, depleting essential nutrients needed for our natural processing within the body. Longevity relies heavily on whole foods so try to eat raw foods everyday.

GingerNotes best approach, take a morning out to your grocer or farmers market and buy fresh seasonal produce with a plan in place to use it. Think about some salad ideas, dips and snacks as your see, touch and smell the produce. Time to get inspired about our vibrant fruit and veggies. See my list of Top Raw Food Recipes for ideas.

Do you have any more tips to add to this list? Please SHARE in the comments below.

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