December is the month of Christmas, family warmth and tables laden with food. If you want to stay in shape without giving up those small culinary treats typically found during the holidays, it’s best to think ahead.

But how? By following a few simple tricks over the weeks before Christmas:

1. Avoid fatty foods. The holidays offer more opportunities to eat meat, cured meats, cheeses and foods particularly rich in fat, such as various fillings, cream and stuffing. So it’s best to avoid them in the run-up, opting instead for lean meats and oily fish.

2. Cut back on your alcohol consumption. There are plenty of chances during the holidays to make a toast with a bottle of bubbly or wine. So it’s best to cut back on your intake during the weeks beforehand.

3. Eat plenty of fruit and vegetables. It’s particularly important to eat vitamins during the cold seasons to help our body boost its defences and protect itself from those small seasonal ailments. So that’s a thumbs up for oranges, mandarins, kiwis, and the many vegetables offered by our winter vegetable gardens! Click here to discover the typical fruit and vegetables of December

4. Drink plenty of water and detoxing herbal teas. To stay hydrated, you need to drink enough water. However, when it’s colder, you often don’t feel thirsty. We should therefore go for detoxing and cleansing herbal teas, sweetened with a little sugar or honey, which are also useful for warming up on those cold winter days.

5. Cut back on salt. Holiday dinner tables are generally rich in salty foods. In the period beforehand, try to minimise your salt consumption to encourage a diuretic effect and to prevent water retention.

6. Get some exercise. Getting regular exercise is useful for keeping your body healthy and in shape. Take advantage of Christmas shopping to go on long walks, choosing to go on foot rather than by car and take the stairs rather than the lift: a mini daily gym ahead of the more sedentary holidays.

Fasting and drastic diets are not the answer for keeping fit: a healthy and balanced diet, together with regular exercise, helps keep you in shape before, during and after the holidays.