…And Stay Road Ready!

Office parties. House limes. Fetes. When it comes to an old-fashioned Trini Christmas, everywhere you turn is an occasion for a celebration. And with good reason! Between the months of September and February, Trinidad comes alive in a burst of colour and flavours as we indulge ourselves and visiting relatives with long-awaited delicacies and greet the sun as we return home from fete after fete. What a time to be alive!

But what of the fate of the future masquerader? Now is a time of reckoning for those who have dedicated the past few months to becoming road ready. Garlic pork, pastelle, ham, sorrel…all delicious minefields to be avoided as the number of days to crossing the Big Stage dwindle down. We get it: you want to stay pretty for pretty mas, but you want to celebrate the season too. What you need is an eating strategy. We’ve got just the thing!

Follow these guidelines as you navigate your Christmas liming schedule to keep your waistline in check and ensure a seamless transition to Carnival!

• Zip yourself into your favourite fete outfits once a week and take note how they fit. Is the top too tight? Muscles not popping like they were a week ago? Make adjustments to your eating and exercise routines.
• When drinking at a lime or a party, have water for every drink. Alcohol is loaded with calories and are a hidden source of sugar. This strategy will not only limit the amount of calories you imbibe, it will also help ease the next day’s hangover by keeping you properly hydrated. We know you wait all year for ponche de crème, sorrel and ginger beer, but you’ll have to moderate your intake this season.
• If you don’t love it, don’t have it. Whenever you encounter a full-fledged buffet, the immediate temptation is take a bit of everything, and go back for more. Preserve the road ready body you’ve worked so hard for by instead choosing the foods you’ve been patiently waiting for. Why fill up on things that you can find at any other point in the year? Indulge strategically!
• Be flexible. It’s important to make allowances for peaks and valleys in any fitness journey. If Aunt Sheila brings out the butter cookies that she swears comes all the way from Denmark, don’t deny yourself! Found yourself dreaming about her famous black cake? Savour a slice. Allowing yourself some leeway during this season and quieting the occasional craving will help you to manage your eating habits without feeling deprived.
• If your social demands begin cutting into your work out time, start thinking of ways to incorporate more physical activity in the time you do have. Instead of taking the elevator at work, run the stairs two or three times. Shorten gym time by opting for high interval intensity training techniques for a more compact but equally effective session. You can even use fetes to your advantage and dance the calories off!
• The festive to fete season demands a level of pace that can be hard to keep up with if you’re not prepared. Jamieson’s B Complex Time Release 100mg supplement provides the energy you need to get through the day and fete throughout the night. It’s made of every B Vitamin your body needs in a time release formula which means that the benefits are spread throughout the body on an hourly basis instead of the quick ‘crash and burn’ energy boost you get from other sources.
• Did you know that besides being an antioxidant which helps in protecting the body against pollutants Vitamin C is required by the body to process all toxins for elimination? When there are too many toxins in your body, your liver requires Vitamin C to process and flush them out. With the increased exposure to toxins during this season, be sure to up your intake of this crucial vitamin.

We hope these tips carry you through this festive season! What are you doing differently this year to stay in the best shape? Share with us on Facebook and let us know your strategies!

Hungry for more? Read all our Health and Wellness tips!