Three reasons to...

KEEP FIT NOW AND HAVE A HEALTHY CHRISTMAS

CHRISTMAS is only weeks away so here are some tips on how to prepare for a healthy time.

If you have a good workout routine keep doing it over the Christmas period. It will help you maintain fitness and you will feel less guilty about eating another mince pie.

KEEP working out. YOU don’t need to spend much time on exercise.

If the

Christmas rush is taking up most of your time opt for a quick HIIT session. Include simple but very effective exercises such as running on the spot, mountain climbers and star jumps. Do 30 seconds of each, followed by a 30-second break, for 10 minutes.

GO easy on the Christmas goodies.

The key here is moderation. You can enjoy the turkey with all the trimmings, the mince pies and some alcohol, but know your limits. Cheat days don’t work because you can very easily overdo it and consume an extra 500 calories. Spread it out throughout the week rather than doing it all in one day. Have the odd treat now and again.

DOCTOR’S NOTES

OFFICE for National Statistics data confirms that sick days have nearly halved in the UK over the past two decades. The figures show that sickness absence rates among employees who were otherwise healthy fell to 1.1% last year, down from 2.2% in 1997. We took 141.4 million days off work last year because of sickness or injury, equivalent to 4.4 days per worker, down from 7.2 in the mid-1990s.

BOARD games are as good for your brain as computer games. Monopoly, cards, chess and bingo were found to help people in their seventies maintain cognitive function.

University of Edinburgh’s Drew Altschul explained: “It’s evidence being more engaged may be associated with better thinking skills in later life.”