Planning to keep festive fit this season? Read on for our top tips on how to inject some healthy habits in an otherwise sedative, chocolate-filled holiday!

Set your goals
Staying healthy can be a challenge during the holidays, so set some goals beforehand and stick to them like you would at any other time of the year. Grab yourself a nice notepad, ask a friend to keep you accountable or sign up to an online fitness challenge. Or why not take it one step further and keep your diet in check with a food delivery service (our favourites here)? Spending a little bit of money for someone else to take charge of your goals and take out the guesswork will make it so much easier to jump straight back on the wagon come January – plus it should give you new ideas and motivation even when life is at its busiest. Think of it as a Christmas present from you to you…

Swap your booze for an alcohol-free spirit
Cocktails and beer are the most likely culprits for weight gain due to their high calorie and sugar content. For a lower calorie option try a clear spirit like Fatty’s Organic Gin, (£45; fattysorganicspirits.com) and enjoy with a sugar-free mixer like sparkling water and a squeeze of lemon or lime. Or why not enjoy a glass of organic red wine for its healthy, inflammatory properties?

Alternatively, there are plenty of alcohol-free options like Freixenet 0% sparkling wine or Kolibri low-calorie cocktails, which means you can still join in with the festivities – without the hangover – or Shameover!

Don’t let the cold put you off trail running
There’s something really exhilarating when it comes to popping on your warm winter gear and heading to a muddy trail. It’s great to breathe in the fresh air, take in all the colours of the trees and relish in the squelch of mud underneath your feet – which is so much kinder on your joints than road running by the way! Just make sure you are very equipped with decent trail shoes (like these Salomon S/LAB ULTRA 2’S, £160) that grip to the mud and support your ankles and stay warm and protected from the cold and wet with a decent wind and waterproof jacket like MyProtein’s Racer Windbreaker Jacket. £50; myprotein.com. Some ski gloves will keep your hands super warm too – don’t laugh – running in ski gloves is life-changing!  

Bring yoga to you 
When it’s cold and you have no motivation to leave the house, then why not bring yoga to you? Yogi2Me, for example, is an on-demand London-based yoga app that brings world-class yoga teachers to your door. Think meditation, Vinyasa, Hatha and Kundalini. It’s the Uber of Yoga! There are also plenty of yoga apps to choose from like Tara Stile’s FitStar Yoga or why not book into a hot yoga class (triyoga.co.uk). You’ll soon be itching to get back outside in the fresh air to cool down. 

Drink up
Drink lots of water on and before a night out – and remember that water can be your best friend when it comes to filling up your tum and giving your skin that winter glow. Don’t be afraid to have the odd sparkling water with some lemon when on a night out – and if you really need a top-up look into intravenous hydration therapies like REVIV Wellness, which offer IV Hydration drips that will rehydrate and revitalize a tired and dehydrated body in as little as 30 minutes.

words by Lucy Miller