Eat with the purpose of enjoyment this Easter

A few small daily treats over Easter will not blow your energy budget in the longer term.

For many of us Easter is a great time for getting together and enjoying delicious traditional treats such as chocolate Easter eggs or hot cross buns.

Yes, such treats can be high in energy, sugar and or fat, so does that mean they should be avoided?

We don’t think so.

You’ll be happy to hear that you can include Easter treats as part of a balanced eating plan.

Enjoy them in moderation, even daily if you like, over the Easter period. It only comes around once a year and probably won’t make any difference to your health or training goals over the long term.

You don’t even need to compensate by exercising more to burn off the extra kilojoules, and please don’t skip meals to allow yourself to eat them. Inevitably these compensatory and restrictive behaviours might only lead to overeating and guilt. Some mindful eating can help here.

Give yourself permission and eat with the purpose of enjoyment! You’re actually likely to eat less this way and will certainly enjoy it more.

You might even want to consider making your own treats this Easter. Not only will you be able to control what the ingredients are, it’s also great fun to cook with friends and family during the holiday.

Here's a quick and nutritious 'no knead' recipe for Hot Cross Buns. This recipe will make for a great pre or post training snack.

Hot Cross Buns

Sourced: Live Lighter

What to do

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C (160 degrees C fan forced).

2. Line a baking tray with baking paper.

3. Sift self-raising flour and spices into a medium-sized bowl. Add sugar, apples and sultanas and mix.

4. Using a fork, stir through yoghurt until incorporated.

5. Transfer mixture to a lightly floured flat surface; use clean hands to bring together until a sticky dough forms taking care not to over work the mixture. Add a small amount of extra self-raising flour as needed (it will depend on the yoghurt you use). Be careful to not add too much flour, you want the dough to just be workable.

6. Divide into 12 evenly sized dough balls and place on the baking tray.

7. Brush each bun with egg wash.

8. There are a few options for the crosses:

Keep it simple with cross-less buns
Make up a paste of plain flour and water – you want it to be about the consistency of thick yoghurt. Put the paste in a zip lock bag, push the paste to the bottom corner, and snip a small corner of the bag off with scissors. ‘Pipe’ the paste onto each bun in a cross.
Make up a paste of plain flour and water – you want it to be about the consistency of toothpaste (you should be able to just roll it in your hands). Take a small section of the paste and roll it into a long sausage in your hands. The pieces should be about as thick as a chopstick. Lay the pieces in a cross shape on each bun.

9. Bake for 25 minutes or until golden brown.

10. Turn onto a wire rack to cool completely, or serve warm.