Don’t feel guilty for taking Christmas ‘off’

ANNIE DEADMAN IS HERE TO HELP YOU, THE EASY WAY!

It’s full-on festive time! And I think, personally speaking, that this is a great moment to give ourselves a pat on the back.

A couple of weeks back, I was saying in this very column how life must be lived and that however rigid our eating and fitness regime may (or may not) have been during the year, it’s perfectly sensible to take your foot off the saintly pedal for a few days. It can actually inject some new life into your goals, motivation and effort.

Rather than stressing over getting to the gym each day, let’s spend some time on those parts of our body which need rehabilitative care and attention, such as the sore bits of the glutes or that hip which twinges halfway through a 10-mile hike. All you need is a tennis ball and a Youtube video to work wonders. Don’t let anyone sell you some posh massage machine.

Likewise, hot baths sprinkled with magnesium salts for tired limbs will loosen tight muscles and help you chill out mentally (with the door locked and a podcast up really loud so you can’t hear the shouts of ‘Has anyone walked the dog?’). Maybe try some 10-minute daily meditations on your phone to help restore a sense of calm. No one needs to know if you end up declaring it all pointless and ditching the app.

Giving things a try is an achievement in itself. Guilt is a common word associated with food and it’s such a negative trait. Don’t go down that road. If there’s any looking back to be done, then let it be a lingering look at the positives: your daily vitamin D habit, your piles of green veg, how you’ve walked not driven, squatted not sat and glugged water not wine. January is almost here and need never be dark. It is, in fact, one of the most exciting months of the year. Whatever the government’s plans may be for us and our pockets, they can’t touch our optimism.

✱ Annie is a fitness coach and creator of nutrition and fat-loss programme The 21 Day Blast Plan, aimed at motivating women towards health and confidence. Find out more at theblastplan.com