Find The Balance Between Naughty and Nice this Christmas

Cheeky office snacks, work Christmas parties, and a little too much food – the silly season is looming. If your favourite pair of jeans fit just that little bit tighter or you find yourself loosening your belt buckle over lunch – you're not alone. In fact, on average Australians will gain between 0.8kg – 1.5kg during the Christmas holiday period. While a few extra kilos may sound pretty harmless, studies suggests that most people never lose the weight they gain throughout the festive season!

According to Sheila Zhou, expert Scientist at USANA, leading producer of high quality supplements, 'The holidays isn't the perfect time to try and shed a few kilos, but it's still achievable to maintain a healthy lifestyle by finding the perfect balance between those naughty indulgences and what's nice for our bodies."

To help you maintain a healthy lifestyle over the Christmas holiday season, Ms. Zhou shares her expert tips:

1.    Bask in the great outdoors

Lucky for us, Christmas in Australia falls during the perfect time of year for a sunny stroll in the park or a refreshing swim at the beach, so there's no excuse to remain cooped up inside. Plus, with children aged between 5 – 12 years needing at least 60 minutes of physical activity per day, it's even more important to get the kids moving, too. So why not grab the whole family for an outdoor activity that everyone can enjoy, like a game of backyard cricket or a beach volley ball tournament to help burn off those unwanted calories from Christmas lunch.

In order to help maintain your children's energy production for an active lifestyle this festive season, USANA's Usanimals^TM provides the perfect balanced formula to support your children's healthy growth and development.

2.    Keep an eye on your portions

When it comes to finding the balance between naughty and nice this holiday season, portion control is the key. Christmas is the one time of year where you can enjoy a little bit of everything indulgent, but to help keep your level of guilt to a minimum it's important to eat less. Abstaining from certain foods never really holds out during the Christmas period, so instead of depriving yourself of the foods you crave, go ahead and enjoy every bite. Just don't have too much of it and avoid piling your plate with mountains of food as you will most definitely regret it later.

Also remember that the food we consume during the holiday period (trifle we're looking at you) are usually filled with large amounts of sugar, bad fats and highly-refined carbohydrates which don't provide our bodies with the nutrients that we need to maintain a healthy lifestyle. USANA's Essentials^TM line of nutritional supplements designed for daily nutritional support are a great way to provide our bodies with the vital vitamins, minerals and antioxidants that our bodies may be lacking throughout the silly season.

3.    Be realistic

Let's face it - Christmas is a time of celebration, and bad meals are inevitable. You and your children (particularly teenagers) aren't always going to make the healthiest decisions this holiday season. Rather than focusing on losing weight, encourage your whole family to focus on more achievable goals like maintaining a healthy and balanced lifestyle. Develop a realistic outlook for yourself and your children and forgive the occasional slip up. If you focus on fitting in some exercise, watching the size of your meals, and maintaining the balance between naughty foods and nice foods, you and your family will have a much better chance at reeling in the New Year with a positive and healthy lifestyle.

However, to give your busy teenagers a helping hand in maintaining their overall health and development, USANA's Body Rox^TM are a unique complete supplement that will help bridge the nutritional gap in young adolescent's diets. USANA's Body Rox will tackle those unhealthy diet choices made this Christmas holiday season by maintaining normal healthy immune function, supporting energy production and helping to build a healthy growing body.

Vitamin supplements should not replace a balanced diet. Use only as directed. Always read the label.

To view the full range of USANA Health Sciences nutritional, weight management and personal care products visit www.usana.com.