During the holiday season, it is believed that people gain anywhere from seven to ten pounds. However, the true weight that is gained is one pound on average.  It is important to note, though, that those who gain this extra weight are likely to keep it. This consistent holiday weight gain usually ends up contributing to weight gain and obesity later in life.

The holidays are a critical time for ensuring that weight is maintained. It is very difficult to lose weight, so maintaining weight during this time is very important.

Here are ten tips on how not to gain weight during the holidays:

•        Do not skip any meals.  If you skip a meal and go hungry, you will over eat. By over eating you will have excess calories that your body will store.

•        Don’t go to a buffet hungry.  Before the buffet or before eating the high high calorie foods at at buffet, eat fruits, vegetables, and drink water. Fill up first on healthy low calorie foods.

•        Between drinking the eggnog and alcohol beverages, drink a glass of water. You are going to drink these empty calories anyway, and you want to enjoy yourself, so just break it up with a glass of water in between.

•        If you are cooking, try to use a substitute for sugar.

•        Enjoy what you eat, but keep health and calories in mind. Find the medium between enjoying the meals and over indulging.

•        Since it takes fifteen to twenty minutes for your brain to register that you are full, eat slowly. With all the delicious food in front of you, it is sometimes hard to avoid scarfing everything down. However, if you take your time, you will consume less calories and avoid gaining weight.

•        The holidays can be stressful, so if food calms you down, beware.  Look for another way to deal with stress—like doing another activity that you enjoy.

•        Don’t forget to stay active.  There is so much going on, we can often forget to do some physical activity. Walking, dancing, doing house work, gardening, and running are all physical activities that can keep calories at bay.

•        Watch the taste-testing.  Those little taste tests may seem harmless, but those little 50 calorie bites add up.

•        If you fall back on your weight loss goals, don’t give up. Know the mistake you made, and then re-focus.

Since it is extremely difficult to lose weight during the holidays, weight maintenance should be the goal. Just by not gaining weight, you should be proud. Heck, enjoy yourself, but don’t over indulge.

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