Christmas is a dangerous time for your waistline. The endless feasts, the third helpings …

There’s hardly any respite from the delicious food that you get to enjoy with your family.

It’s fine while it lasts, and after working hard all year it’s richly deserved. But it does mean you have a job on your hands if you aren’t to emerge in the New Year with a spare tire or two.

So what’s to be done about it? Luckily there are ways you can keep the weight off over Christmas but still enjoy the best time of the year.

Be realistic

Most families really push the boat out over Christmas, so the chances are you will eat more than you would normally. Don’t fight that; it’s a time of celebration and whoever has prepared Christmas dinner will have put their heart and soul into it.

It’s a question of management, and not overdoing it. Resist the temptation to pile ‘Pigs in Blankets’ in your plate, restrict the gravy to your turkey and spuds (try and stick with two roast potatoes) and don’t gorge on mince pies and Christmas cake before getting to the table.

Pace yourself

But don’t starve yourself beforehand either. A lot of people think they will pre-empt the feasting by skipping breakfast entirely.

This is wrong, because it’ll confuse your body. You’ll be ravenous by the time the turkey is served up, meaning you’ll end up eating more.

Lay the foundations

While the weather isn’t going to be the most conducive, don’t wait ‘til the new year to make a resolution to up your exercise. Going for a jog in the morning will help fight the weight gain as well as get you away from the family for a precious half hour.

Don’t just stick to aerobic exercise though; muscle building is very important to long-term weight loss. Simply jogging or swimming means you lose both fat and muscle. In the short-term that might not matter, but your muscles are what burns calories so losing them reduces your ability to fight the effect of delicious, heavy meals.

Combining exercise and muscle building is the best way to get in shape and stay there, and it’s great for your mental wellbeing too.

Helping hands

Just as weightlifters will use protein to supplement their muscle development, if you want to stay trim while enjoying your Christmas, look into supplements like a XLS medical fat binder.

These will prevent fat from being absorbed, effectively cutting out part of the fat in your diet and making them an ideal aid at a time when anything savoury comes with gravy and sausage meat and anything sweet is accompanied by cream or brandy butter.

XLS medical make their binders from natural extracts that are kind on your body. When combined with a healthy lifestyle they are a great contributor to sound weight loss.