Katie Bulmer-Cooke: Be fit and ready for the festive party season

The first being you want to look and feel good at all of your festive events, whether it’s your work Christmas party or a family gathering.

Secondly, it’s inevitable that everyone will gain some festive pounds due to more nights out, sweets and chocolate in the office and increased alcohol consumption.

So how do you ensure you feel top dollar in the run up to Christmas and avoid having extra pounds to shift come January?

It’s dead easy, you make November your damage limitation month and right now is the time to start thinking about it.

If you work hard in November with both your exercise and food choices, you’ll go into December in the best possible position ... lighter and slimmer, with some wriggle room for the festivities.

You’ll look and feel champion, and even if you do gain some festive pounds, come January it won’t be such a big deal because you were in a deficit at the end of November.

Look at it this way. Scenario one, you do nothing in November or you plod on with a bit of exercise and an average diet. You stay the same weight and/or size. December arrives and you feel OK in your Christmas party outfits, but wish you felt better. You gain the average 7lbs over the festive period and/or your clothes feel tight and uncomfortable and when January hits you’ve got to work even harder to get those 7lbs off and get your clothes feeling comfortable again.

Or on the flip side, there is scenario two. You work hard in November, getting out of your comfort zone with your training and you place greater focus on your diet, creating solid, healthy habits throughout the month. You lose 7lbs and drop a clothes size. December arrives and you feel ace in your Christmas party outfits, and have friends and colleagues complimenting you on how great and healthy you look. You gain the average 7lbs over the festive period and when January hits you’ve got nowhere near as much work to do because you’re back to where you started at the start of November.

If Scenario two sounds better, then now is the time to create a plan of action.

What exactly are you going to do? Where and how will you workout? What will you eat and drink? How will you ensure you stick to your plan? What are your goals?

If you can generate answers to these questions then you are on to a winner.

There are so many great places to exercise, activities and fitness professionals in our city, there really is something for everyone, so let’s get moving Sunderland!