CHRISTMAS: In the season of indulgence, find a few ways to offset festive fare

Want the Christmas treats, but not the seasonal weight gain?
Family Christmas dinnerFamily Christmas dinner
Family Christmas dinner

Simple - just factor in some winter wonderland workouts to bring some balance to the festive season. After all, feasting is all part of the fun, and life is too short to never indulge. That being said it’s estimated the average Brit consumes a whopping 7,000 kcals on Christmas Day alone and will gain 6lbs between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Day, so time to think of ways to offset the calorific damage.

Here are five Christmas Calorie Kings - and what you’ll need to do to start burning them off.

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- One mince pie - at approx 200 kcals - can be spared from a lifetime on your hips with a brisk one-hour walk. Walking can often feel more like pleasure than exercise - and gets you out in the fresh air - so start a new family tradition.

- A glass of Bucks Fizz - at approx 100 kcals - is just ten mins with a skipping rope. No fancy gym membership needed here you can achieve smiliar results with some star-jumps and burpees.

- Six Quality Street chocolates - at approx 260 kcals - needs a half hour of dancing to burn away, so crank up a bit of Wizard and start the conga-line around the living room!

- A big Christmas dinner with all the trimmings is going to take a little more work to get rid of - at approx 1,500 kcals. A couple of hours spent shovelling snow, or a friendly football match in the park is the best way to aleviate some of the pressure from your waistband, or join a parkrun or bootcamp class in the new year to help you shake those extra post-Christmas pounds.

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- Finally, a Christmas pudding with custard and/or brandy butter - at approx 900 kcals - is a good reason to hit the poor for an hour of fast swimming, kind on the joints and great for those with dodgy knees. If an hour’s fast swimming is too much, break it down into regular manageable chunks. You’ll still be reaping the benefits of a full body workout and leave feeling festively fantastic.

Happy exercising one and all.