Tip #2 The morning after the night before

If I'm hungover, which is pretty rare these days, the last thing I want to go is go into work, but by the look of a few of the faces in the canteen this morning not everyone is that bothered by the prospect.

Unsurprisingly, hangovers seem to extend the queue in the canteen for bacon sandwiches significantly - when you're feeling worse for wear a bowl of rice krispies just isn't going to cut it. But beware - a few too many of these and you'll be doing damage both to your waistline and overall health. Infact the government actively recommends minimizing pork products in your diet to reduce the risk of cancer and heart disease.

So before you join the bacon buttie queue consider your options:

Firstly are you really hungry? Wait until your body asks for some food before tucking in. Post-bender it might actually want a break so just have some fluids til your appetite kicks in.

Make yourself have a piece of fruit and a glass of water before you eat anything else. This will give you vitamin C and water - two essential inputs for your liver to detoxify alcohol. If you really can't face fruit have an OJ and if water doesn't appeal have a bottle of Vitamin water or a decaf tea.

Next up assess your options at the hot food counter:
Are poached eggs available? Poached eggs on wholegrain toast makes a great comforting and filling breakfast.

If you fancy a fry up limit the damage by going veggie:
Have beans, poached or fried egg, veggie sausage, grilled tomatoes or mushrooms and wholegrain toast. This fibre full selection can't fail to fill you up, but with significantly less fat, and therefore calories, than having sausage, bacon, black pudding and hash browns.

Really can't go without a breakfast buttie? Go for bacon rather than sausage (less fat and additives) and have with grilled tomato rather than ketchup (the sugar in the ketchup makes your body store more of the fat in the bacon).

And for those with a bit more self-control: a glass of OJ with some muesli with natural yoghurt followed by a herbal tea can work wonders for a thick head.
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Tip#1 surviving work xmas drinks

It feels a bit early for Christmas drinks but I suppose my office, and most others, try to get these done early before everyone goes on holiday. Work drinks can be a lot of fun, but also can end up rather messy so here's how to keep it all under control;

Firstly eat before you go there. Have a substantial snack in the office before you go, a sandwich or mini portion of sushi are good options. This will line your stomach and stop you hoovering up the unhealthy bar food on offer.

Secondly pace yourself with drinks. Alternate every drink with a glass of water - this applies for soft drinks as well as alcohol as these are usually full of sugar and other badies but easy to get through quickly, by alternating you'll cut the calories you're consuming.

When your appetite does kick in it's best to stay low carb - go for crudites, mezze, parma ham, smoked salmon, nuts or olives, avoid chips, wedges and crisps. The former contain more protein to fill you up and are less moreish, plus they are low GI minimizing the damage to your waistline.

Finally know when to turn into a pumpkin - you don't have to wait for midnight to make your curtain call. When you've had enough sneak off home to bed - remember sleep is the best way to reduce a hangover and no ones going to give you a prize for staying out til you couldn't stand up!
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Santa's stress busters

I love Christmas and always have, but what I miss as a grown up is being at my parents when school broke up and having two weeks before Christmas to decorate the house, buy and wrap presents and soak in the festive spirit.

Sadly for us city folk a two week christmas break is hard to come by and christmas can feel like a last minute rush which is no fun.

So here are my top tips to make sure you enjoy Christmas as much as possible without any last minute stresses:

1. make lists - I'm a massive list maker but it helps keep me sane when I'm trying to juggle too many tasks. Make three lists of things you have to do before Christmas: Things to buy (xmas pressies, food for entertaining, party dress), things to do at home (write cards, put up tree, prepare for guests), things to do in town (hair cut, facial, going to the post office) and things to do at work (there's usually some tasks that have to be done by the end of the year). These might be fairly long, but once you've got them down you can get stuck in. Anything not on the lists can wait til the New Year, get these ones dealt with as soon as poss. and then you can relax and enjoy the party season.

2. Like a good girl scout be prepared for every eventuality - have some dinners in the freezer for when you won't have time to cook, keep spare christmas cards and gifts at home and work to give to anyone you missed off the list, get your christmas food shopping list setup and ready to go online so you've not got a big shop to do and get your party togs dry cleaned so you're not caught out without an outfit.

3. Let yourself get festive. With all the rushing about it can be easy to forget that Christmas is fun. Put your christmas playlist on your ipod and use it to get in the mood whether you're at home doing chores, on your way to work or at the gym - I'll be working out to Christmas tunes all December! Get an advent calendar for your desk, put up some super tacky decorations at home and have some mulled wine whilst you write your Christmas cards - it's the one month a year when you can do all this without anyone thinking you're a bit odd so make the most of it!!
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Alternative advent

Well many of you may have already made headway into your advent calenders this morning, our christmas treats that mark the countdown to Christmas. But I personally haven't had one in years (milk chocolate just doesn't agree with me).

So I thought I'd give you all an alternative advent calender with tips or treats to keep you healthy, happy and sane over the Christmas period.

Treat #1
Whilst I don't eat milk chocolate (lactose + sugar is terrible for digestion + skin) I do still enjoy dark chocolate. My current chocolate treat is Green + Blacks current and hazelnut 60% dark chocolate. Dairy free and with much less sugar than milk chocolate it's a healthier alternative to my old favourite - dairy milk fruit and nut, plus being so rich you can't eat more than a few squares. Keep some in your desk and have a couple of squares whilst your colleagues tuck into the quality streets.

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Dear Santa

Ok so it's officially December which means my xmas decorations are up (minus the tree) and the C word is no longer banned! It also means most of you are likely to be starting or thinking about your Christmas shopping so I thought it would be a good idea to share with you my Christmas wish list, which may provide you with some gift inspiration for your loved ones.

As a child I used to write a letter to Santa every year about what I wanted and post it off to Lapland and then somehow those very presents magically would appear under the tree (I suspect some parental interception was going on!), if only it still worked like that!

Cookery books

For anyone who loves to cook a new cookery book can be a wonderful present. I read mine in bed like novels and regularly pour over them looking for new recipes to try.

A cookbook written to help parents get their kids to eat their greens ... but I'm not a parent so why's it on my list? In her quest to get her kids to eat healthily Jessica Seinfeld (yes wife of Jerry) has come up with the simplest, quickest, easiest tasty recipes possible, without endless lists of complicated ingredients. Just ridiculously easy to follow - good gift for the first time cook or a busy mum.

I'm a lover of Leon, eating their wholesome hearty food regularly for lunch, so I was delighted to be given their first cookbook Leon: Ingredients & Recipeslast year - a total treasure trove of foodie information that I regularly go back to. Well I had a look at this new book in Waterstones and it looks like another total gem - an encylopediea on baking ingredients and techniques as well as including also loads of allergy friendly gluten and dairy free recipes made with healthier sugars such as agave, rather than table sugars and being Leon recipes I know they'll be yummy.

. I was given The Kind DIet last year as a wonderful gift from a client, and ever since then have been regularly cooking and enjoying more vegan food. Having exhausted the recipes in that wonderful tome, the Skinny Bitch cookbook is next on the list for some super healthy recipes.

Cookbooks can be a bit hit and miss, but the better known celebrity chefs usually have a team of assistants to make sure their recipes are up to scratch. This means they can often be relied upon for delicious go to recipes for dinner parties and feeding your friends and family, but whilst impressive these recipes aren't usually that healthy ... hence this book - proper cooking but with a thought to the health factor.

As well as books, health magazines can be great sources of healthy inspiration - giving you some new ideas each month to keep you from getting bored. That's why a subscription to Zest is on my list this year but there are loads of options depending on someone's interests - runner's world, men's fitness, men's health, natural health etc.

Kitchen gadgets

A whisk? Yes seriously that's what I'd like - my current flimsy one isn't standing the test of my baking experiments!! If you have a friend who likes to cook, a good budget present is to identify a small gadget they want and then find them a decent quality version - they'll be delighted and you won't have broken the bank.

At the other end of the scale ... I know I'll have to be very good for Santa to bring me this one:

It cooks, dices, juices, blends, kneads and makes delicious fresh nut butters in seconds. You can even make your own flour with it ... to be fair I'm not sure what this genius devise can't do!

I first saw these chopping boards in the MoMa shop in New York (brilliant source of stylish and clever kitchen gadgets), but now you can get them here. Not only are they hygenic - making sure you don't cross-contaminate between chopping - but they also provide an easy tidy way to store chopping boards (mine are forever propped up behind the taps).

Treats

Everyone likes a sweet treat at Christmas and I'm no exception, but for the dairy free avoiding the temptation of all that chocolate around the house isn't easy, which is why Montezuma's vegan chocolates make a great gift for the dairy free. One of the few chocolatiers with a vegan range they also do truffles and a dark chocolate lovers box.

Farewell to the facial hair

I'm sad now the November has ended and we'll no longer see the amusing moustaches city gents have been growing over the past month. There have been some wonderful specimens ranging from blackadder the second style RAF tashes to some proper starsky and hutch mos.

Still for all the amusement Movember is a very serious cause - raising awareness about Prostate cancer and the importance of raising any symptoms with your doctor.

Awareness is so necessary as, with all cancers, the earlier it's caught the more effective the treatment. Still the best cure is prevention which is very much what nutritional therapy is all about.

My top tips for reducing your risk are:
Cut down on your meat intake, particularly processed meats and pork (ham, sausages, bacon).

Reduce your diary intake and have organic when you do have dairy

Reduce your intake of refined sugar

Eat six to eight portions of fruit and veg per day, if that seems tricky just make sure you have one portion with every meal and snack and keep some fruit on your desk at work.

Take extra anti-oxidants if you do particularlyintensive excersize as this raises your need for antioxidants. Cherry active and using juices and smoothies are good to top up.

One particular antioxidant that's effective in prevention of prostate cancer is lycopene. Tomatoes are the best source of lycopene, however interestingly cooked and processed tomatoes are a better source than raw tomatoes.

This may seem odd, given there's a regular emphasis on eating raw fruit and veg on the basis that they are more nutritious. But infact that isn't always the case, which is one of the reasons why an entirely raw food diet might not be the best for optimum health.

In practice this means that regularly having passata or tomato puree may be cancer protective particularly against prostate cancer. Both can easily be used in homecooking - home-made pizza, bologneise, lasagna, stews and soups.

If prostate cancer runs in your family it may be an idea to supplement with lycopene as well.

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Time to slow it down

I feel like I haven't stopped since I got back from hols - work's been super busy, I've had two full weekends and have been trying to get my chores done in between. All in all I feel like I need another break but my holiday allowance is all used up for the year :-(

Probably as a result of this, and half the office coughing and spluttering around me, I've also felt like I'm fighting off a bug for the last week ... not good.

In my previous incarnation I would have ploughed on til I collapsed. But these days I take action before I get totally depleted.

For anyone feeling a bit under par right now, or anyone who has a tendency to plough on regardless of how they feel here's my action plan:

Number 1 is to prioritise sleep - you need more of this if you're fighting infection or under stress/pressure so this is especially important in the face of both. Chores and friends can wait til you've caught up - you won't be any fun if you're tired and no one will thank you for passing on your bugs to them! Cancel weeknight plans and leave saturday and sunday morning free for a decent lie in.

Number 2 is to scale back exercise - I'm limiting myself to a 20minute walk per day til I feel myself again. This is hard for me as I love the gym and do worry about turning into Kirsty Alley if I don't go! Still as long as you follow your appetite (rather than eating the same volume as you would on a gym day) the damage to your waistband over a couple of weeks off actually shouldn't be that bad. Do some gentle hatha yoga to keep yourself sane til you're able to go back.

Number 3 is to take a deep breath - even if your day is running away from you take 10 minutes off the desk at some point. Find a quiet spot or get some fresh air. Take 10 deep breaths and get some perspective - city work doesn't usually involve life or death scenarios - the world won't end if you don't finish your powerpoint presentation!

Number 4 is to stop shovelling - If you can't avoid eating and working at the same time then at least pace yourself by putting your fork down between mouthfuls - if you're working it doesn't matter how long you're taking to eat your meal so slow it down. By slowing down you'll un-knot your stomach and absorb a few more nutrients from your food.

Finally number 5 is get some extra vitamin C - take supplements, drink smoothies, eat fruit - just get it in!! Vitamin C is used up so much in stress and also so needed for immune function, so if you're run down you're more than likely running low. Keep it up til you feel better!
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