It’s difficult enough to stay on track with a diet and exercise programme even when the weather is good and light evenings encourage long walks and healthy eating. Combined with cold weather and dark evenings, Christmas can often be the final nail in the coffin of a health kick that may already be flagging after the clocks go back. Work drinks and Christmas parties gang up on you, and the supermarkets are stocked with tempting food that we wouldn’t dream of eating throughout the rest of the year. Even our daily coffee fix gains a range of seasonal syrups, and more often than not, the temptation of whipped cream and sugar sprinkles on top. In short, Christmas can be a disaster for motivation. +