How to: survive the festive season (& winter workouts!) without sacrificing your silhouette

The wider waistline that stems from seasonal snacking can often trigger the temptation to skip winter workouts in favour of filling our evenings with energy dense food sources, but with the right mindset and motivation, there is no reason why we should be sacrificing the slender silhouette that we've struggled to sustain during the summer months, for sofa fuelled feasts that will not only leave us at war with our willpower and waistline, but hinder the healthier habits that we have worked hard to create.

Instead of fixating on our forthcoming 'failures' and the obstacles that overwhelm us, the first step to successfully sustaining the strategic regimes that we have learned to religiously resort to during longer days, is to eliminate the excuses that trigger toxic thoughts of negativity. Short-term sunlight may instantly intensify our insecurities surrounding our self control - we're less willing to workout and more susceptible to seasonal snacking as the days get shorter - but this is the exact excuse that we need to erase in order to prevent our annual perception of failing to maintain motivation from destroying our discipline and determination to sustain healthier habits. Once we've mastered a positive mindset, it's time to tackle the temptation that forces us to turn to tasty treats as opposed to a tough training session...

Although this particular problem will require the motivation to make sensible swaps, it is possible to psychologically trick the human mind into thinking that we're demolishing our favourite dish or dessert, by creating a ravishing recipe that not only mimics the same snack or meal that has a tendency to tempt us into embarking on a sofa fuelled feast, but that is made from healthier ingredients that are lower in the core culprits responsible for contributing to a wider waistline - think an overconsumption of calories, fat and sugar.

Before we burst with excitement at the thought of there being a simple solution to ceasing a complex cycle - a cycle that resembles bingeing on a ridiculous amount of festive food - substituting seasonal snacks with sensible swaps won't automatically stop us from slouching on the coach (this will require the motivation to maintain our moto of moving more and sitting less) but it will eliminate the energy dense food sources and processed pick me ups that will leave us prone to piling on the pounds and associating the winter months (and the festive season!) with a wider waistline, should we fail to sustain the self discipline not to succumb to sofa fuelled feasts.

Last but by no means least, we should never underestimate the power of believing in ourselves and our capacity for change. 
We all battle to banish the temptation of bothersome binges as we creep closer to Christmas, but if we have managed to maintain the motivation to sustain healthy habits during longer days, we are more than capable of creating a new regime that resembles a realistic approach to overcoming the obstacles that stem from short-term sunlight, seasonal shindigs and a calorie fuelled Christmas that 'cripples our confidence' and tightens our trousers. Swapping outdoor workouts for indoor activities, eliminating everything that triggers the temptation to turn to the TV and tasty treats and remembering that where there is a will there is always a way (we just need to find the right one that fits our triggers, temptation and time!) may sound like a simple solution to putting a stop to seasonal snacking and skipped training sessions, but it is the most physically and psychologically effective method for maintaining the motivation to continue to move more, and eat less (crap).