Easter Weekend

Top Tips for a Healthy Weekend (and Beyond)

As covered last year, the origins of Easter are more complex than many give credit for; it will inevitably mean different things for different people. However, cutting to the chase, for many of you Easter will mean egg hunts, chocolate and a cheeky drink or two for mum and dad!

However, while a family gathering and a few treats to celebrate the Easter Weekend are fair game, practising some moderation during the occasion will likely establish and extend the good habits throughout the year; resulting in better health all round.

So, without further ado here are SHEilds’ top tips for a healthy weekend (and beyond) for you and your family.

Chocolate and Sweets

Whether it be in egg, bar, boxed or snack form chocolate and sweets inevitably get a big push this time of year in the shops and whether or not you intended to indulge it can be difficult to resist.

Here are a few ideas to keep things away from turning sickly and develop good habits for the remainder of the year:

• Sharing is caring – Amassed a staggering stockpile of chocolate and sweets? Try sharing around amongst family, friends and work colleagues. It may win you some good favour and you won’t be tempted to eat it all alone!
• Tactical placement – During (and particularly after) the Easter weekend consider keeping most of the chocolates out of commonplace reach. Placing them in your living room or by the dinner table will make it easier to inadvertently snack between meals. Putting them in less obvious locations should help mitigate this problem.
• Be smart, buy sensible treats – Big supermarket displays might draw your eye to monster sized eggs and multipacks but consider whether these are necessary before you buy. Better to buy small ones without fillings and enjoy in moderation than purchase a huge obligation that will leave you feeling rotten.
• Mix in some dark chocolate – It might not be to everyone’s taste, but dark chocolate has proven benefits arising from its high quotient of flavonoids and antioxidants. You can find out much more about the benefits of chocolate.
• Plan satisfying, healthy meals – Want to reduce temptation in your family for chocolate? Plan a healthy Easter weekend feast with lots of vegetables and fruit for dessert! Ideally, when your done the cravings for chocolate should be reduced.

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Easter Activities

Feeling guilty about your weekend calorie intake? Want to get the kid’s attention away from chocolates? Plan some fun Easter activities to get moving:

• An Easter Egg hunt – An obvious choice perhaps but a fun one, especially if you get creative with hiding places. Make your kids and relatives work for the chocolates with elaborate hiding places and interesting clues.
• Arts and crafts – Try having your kids make paper craft bunnies and creative structures to hold their stash of Easter chocolate in. Who knows? It might stop them eating them all at once.
• Run an ‘Egg and Spoon’ race – It might not be the first thing children want to do, but this traditional race can be a real hoot and an effective way to break up chocolate binging. Participants need to carry hard-boiled eggs on spoons as they compete to reach the finish line without dropping it. Good luck!
• Check for events – Stuck for activity ideas? Check your paper and local websites for public activities and workshops over the Easter weekend. There may likely be a number within commutable distance and many may even be free!

A word for the adults…

It seems worth a final mention that chocolate is not the only thing people tend to overindulge in during an extended weekend.

A word for the adults; an excessive night on the town may be tempting, safe in the knowledge that there are three days to recover from a hangover. However, you could just as easily turn this on its head and see it as three days wasted feeling ill!

As with chocolate, moderation is the key; take the weekend as a chance to recharge and genuinely enjoy the time with friends, family or doing something constructive.

Happy Easter

What else is there to say, other than to wish everyone celebrating a very Happy Easter from all of SHEilds! Have a good one folks!

SHEilds Ltd