Often Christmas and holidays are a time that’s scary for many people. The lack of routine. All the food. All the stress. All the parties. All the responsibilities!

But it doesn’t have to be. I used to be one of those “fuck it it’s Christmas” people – you know… eat all the food that came into my vicinity, screw over my normal exercise routine, etc.

And honestly, it took me enough years of doing that to realise it actually takes away all of the good parts of Christmas and holiday times… Enjoying times with friends and family, trying new things and activities, doing stuff you may not have had time to do in the year like reading and baking and learning new skills, and most of all just being a happy human!

You see, if I’m treating my body like garbage I have zero desire to socialise and meet people and do interesting things and try new experiences – all the things that make the holiday period enjoyable!

So what do I do over Christmas?

I honestly treat it like any other time of the year! There is no point of the year where I follow strict diet rules or do anything that feels forced. I naturally love looking after my health as it makes me happy. And I don’t know about you but I certainly want to be happy around the holiday period and through out the year too.

If this kind of non-diet living sounds amazing to you, choosing healthy options with ease and not feeling deprived only to lead to binging, my signature program The Sweetness Beyond Sugar is coming back in January, where I take you through the exact process I went through to get myself to this dreamy way of life! Read more here.

So yes, I do mostly stick to the same way of eating. And when I really feel like eating something I normally wouldn’t (perhaps something sugary, fried, a cocktail or whatever it is)… I eat it!

But the important part is that I know I want to eat it, it’s not just because someone offered it to me or because I’m thinking “Oh I can only eat this now because after new years I’ll be on a diet”… No.

But for the most part, just as I do any time of year, I make loads of decadent yet sugar-free Christmas creations. I have a HEAP of delicious sugar-free treat recipes on my recipes page of my blog.

I like to keep my desserts like this as it stops all the negative effects of sugar overload like bad moods, erratic behaviour, blood sugar spikes and low energy.

I also find them less addictive. Since my desserts are filled with naturally satisfying ingredients like coconut and cacao and nuts and spices, I tend to find you don’t get those urges to eat the entire tray of dessert.