When you walk around the supermarket at this time of year you almost feel bullied into buying the festive nibbles that are on special offer at the entrances of the stores and at the end of every aisle.

The buzz of Christmas is contagious, and it's very hard not to get caught up in the all festivities.

I'm sure this is already happening in most workplaces up and down the region – the mince pies are now regularly circulating around the office from those who revel in the Christmas spirit.

It may be the case that you have already had your Christmas party, but for some it will be still to come over the next couple of weeks.

You may work for yourself, but I bet that doesn't mean that you stop having a few more treats around this time of year.

I know from experience that it is a huge challenge at this time of year to keep the fingers away from the biscuits, sweets, crisps and the like – everyone else is diving in without a care in the world.

In the office I've always felt a bit left out in the past, and I've usually just caved to fit in with everyone else.

Unfortunately this is the typical culture, not only in Norfolk – it goes on up and down the nation.

I'm aware that I sound a bit like Scrooge (Bah humbug!). Everyone wants to have fun, it's Christmas in a couple of weeks. Our peers, they think they are coming from a good place – in their minds they are doing something nice for others. Whilst I agree it's all part of getting in the Christmas spirit, it's very difficult to stop over-indulging once you get going.

That's a bit downbeat, right? I like to think of it as a bit of a reality check. I'm not trying to be negative, because I make sure I over-indulge throughout the Christmas period. I also think you should be able to do the same.

If you cannot enjoy Christmas, what's the point in living?

What I want to do is to give you a few tactics to help prevent you from getting bogged down by the bad stuff in the office.

Exercise in the morning (before work) – resistance workouts, especially!

We all know deep down that you can do all the exercise in the world, but you are not going to see any positive changes in your mind nor body while you keep eating the wrong kinds of foods. With this in mind, by exercising, you are burning calories and if you do some resistance workouts you are going to continue to burn calories throughout the rest of the day.

By making the decision to exercise, you give yourself a little bit of scope to eat a bit more of what you want. Get it done first thing in the morning and get on and enjoy the rest of your day.

This might sound a bit odd, but hear me out...you should bring your own cakes and treats in.

You can still participate with everyone else and more importantly, show that you are good sport. The most important thing though is that you can retain a bit of control of what is being consumed. Learn to get into the habit of making things that are typically low in added sugars. A couple of recipes that spring to mind would be some fudge, made with ground almonds, coconut oil and some protein powder or even some protein flapjacks.

If you are not one for sweets, bake your own bread – use things like oat flour and bring in a few types of different cheeses. Everyone loves cheese!

Finally, what about the drinking at the Christmas party? The work Christmas party is something to go out and enjoy. Do you need to get yourself in a right state? No not really! Hopefully you will be good enough to use some kind of restraint whilst enjoying your time out. A lot of people will go straight to the bar and order a few pints or a couple of glasses of wine. Wrong, people! Just stop right there!

This may sound strange but I am going to say that you should be hitting the vodka.

Now, although it is obviously stronger when compared with a normal pint of beer – there are significantly fewer calories in vodka. Keep the calories low, and the entertainment high, choose your spirit and add a diet mixer to it (again, low in calories). Now for the blokes reading this doesn't sound very manly, but you need to just man up and enjoy it – show your feminine side!

Vodka and diet lemonade would be my choices at such an event when I am letting my hair down.

Like with most things nutrition and exercise, a lot of what I have said is just common sense, you need to just take control. If you can do that, you can spread the Christmas spirit around and share good times with those close to you.

Almost inspirational that.

Anyway, I would just like to say Happy Christmas to you all and hopefully I will see some of you in the New Year.