A Christmas Gift For The Fiercest Person In Your Life - You!

Here's a small Christmas gift from me to you.

You are a fierce person. And you owe it to yourself to be real.

Here are some of the things that I would class as being the real me. Saying "yes" to more turkey without guilt, uploading a video of me dancing in antlers and day-glo jeggings, leaving the room to politely fart. These are all steps forward in self expression.

But do you know what doesn't have the real you at heart?

Yes, it's that villain of villains, Facebook.

Even Facebook themselves admitted this week that Facebook is bad for you. http://uk.businessinsider.com/facebook-social-media-bad-for-users-mental-health-2017-12?r=US&IR=T

While I will ignore the irony of where you are probably reading this, it is true that the pressure for the "perfect online life" is being blamed for a nation of deeply unhappy young teenagers.

But even the most confident of adults struggle not to fall into the trap of the holiday brag. We all know this is the time of year when old rivals come out of the woodwork looking happy and glam in couture, their silhouettes lit up perfectly by vodka luges at the Christmas parties you are no longer invited to.

Saturday Kitchen-like shows throb with the buzz of celebrities suddenly hell-bent on sharing their perfect lives, posing in soup kitchens while subliminally launching their latest fitness vid or diet cookbook, before you've even heard of it.

I want to remind you gently and urgently just once more that the images of the perfect life we see are fake. And yet, a good advertising campaign will tell you that the good things in life are just out of reach for you: argument-free Christmas dinner, calorie-free puddings, painless hair removal, and anything made by Heston Blumenthal. Even in the once carefree land of #nofilter instagram, people are relying on touch up apps to slim their behinds and removing their blemishes.

Think for a moment about the people you actually admire. Do they play like Serena, run like Mo, joke around like Tiffany Haddish? Or are they living the perfect online life, just for everyone to see?

I'm not going to suggest you ignore the call-to-arms of that spongey after-Christmas feeling. All I'm saying is Nicole Kidman's coffee fast diet is not going to make you Serena Williams. Please be kind and honest with yourself and don't fall into this trap which will ultimately end in self-loathing and you snapping at everyone around you because you need a Snickers.

Self-care and patience go hand in hand with a good personal training programme. I encourage you to design a routine that works for the real you. Not a morning person? Book an afternoon session! Feeling hungry before training? Have a snack. Have trouble committing to a weekly session? Book a double! If you want to make improvements with your fitness then why not make sure your changes suit the real you, not your avatar.

Facebook is here to stay, but we can all make it a happier, more engaging reality where those who show themselves some self-care, realism and a little hard work shine. Now that's powerful.

I promise you, if you avoid empty social media promises and actually make real changes, you will see the difference. And should fierceness ensue - well watch out world!

So stop giving all these posers the time of day and go have some more damn turkey in the real world.