Christmas brings with it, presents under the tree, family gatherings, Christmas parties, food and drink. We have already stocked up on the mince pies, tins of Roses and boxes of Afternoon Tea biscuits. Christmas, and all that goes with it, tests our willpower to the end. Christmas day we consume an average of 6,000 calories - this is no help to our waistlines. So I’m here to help you understand where those calories come from and allow you to make simple healthier choices, especially on Christmas day.

Our Purefit Survival Guide 2014

For Starters

The traditional starter of Prawn Salad and Marie Rose sauce has approx 300 calories, which you can choose to exchange for a slice of melon at approx 50 calories or homemade vegetable soup at approx 135 calories.

Main Meal

While turkey is very low in fat choose the white meat as opposed to the brown. White can save you 60 calories per portion, if you remove the skin. Ham has more salt and fat in it but turkey is not the same without ham! so make sure you just trim off the fat. Pile on the veggies but remember roast vegetables can have double the fat of mashed potato. Opt for steamed broccoli, carrots and asparagus. For the stuffing reduce the butter by half and use brown whole meal bread instead of white. You can also opt for fruit & nut based stuffings. Gravy can be very high in fat when it is made with the juices of the meat, so opt for gravy using bouillon stock, corn flour and natural browning sauce (gluten free) or go for a delicious cranberry sauce with little calories. (Remember sauces on the side as a good tip to using less)

Dessert

Desserts can be the most calorific of all course. Choose smaller portions, low-fat cream, reduced-fat custard and just 1 mince pie. A lighter dessert choice (and my favorite) is Pavola - reduce the portion of cream and add plenty of delicious fresh fruits.

These small changes on Christmas day can take 1,000 calories off while still keeping the with traditional spirit of Christmas!