Happy, Healthy Easter: How to Beat the Bunny

Easter is a tempting time of year for us chocolate lovers. While some of you may feel the pressure to consume your body weight in chocolate Easter eggs, you don’t have to let Easter derail your weight loss successes to date.

There is no rule that states that you MUST celebrate Easter with chocolate. In fact, there are plenty of ways to keep your eating plan on track this Easter. Here at the LifeShape Clinic, we have come up with some simple tips to help you and your loved ones be a little more creative and celebrate Easter without chocolate!

Pick One Day to Celebrate!

Just because it is a 4 day long weekend should not mean your meal plan also goes into holiday mode. The traditional day to celebrate is Easter Sunday.

Less is More

When you do eat something sweet this Easter, make it feel like a true treat by savouring a small amount. It will be more fulfilling to have a smaller portion of quality chocolate rather than consuming lots of cheap chocolate. It might be a good idea to let the Easter Bunny know this too before the weekend comes around!

Chocolate calories are still calories

Remember, they all add up. So if you do decide to treat yourself over Easter with chocolates or hot cross buns, make sure you remember to track it in your food diary so you don’t lose count. Take a look at our Easter Treats table to find out how much exercise you are in for when you consume your Easter goodies.

Go Dark

While dark chocolate has a similar number of kJ to milk chocolate, it's higher in antioxidants and its richness means a little goes a long way. White chocolate has the highest energy content.

Ban the bunny

Why not use the money you would normally spend on chocolate and try alternate gifts, such as; flowers, cards, scratchies, lotto tickets, perfumes, jewellery – this list is endless.

Limit treats for Children

Overweight and obesity is a rising statistic in Australia, with 1 in 4 children now placed in this category. While it is nice to treat your children by spoiling them with gifts, eating kilos of sugar & fat laden calories is not being kind to their insides. Why not aim swap the chocolate tradition for one of the family fun Easter activities.

If you are still not convinced you can beat the bunny this Easter, take a look at our Easter Treat Guide! This table explains how many calories are in your favourite Easter treats and how much exercise you are in for in order to burn them off. Click here to download!