How to Keep the Weight Off During the Holidays

The Holidays are here so that means there will be plenty of eating. You've worked hard all year, why sabotage your efforts now? The good news is that it is possible to enjoy the festivities and eat the foods that you love without gaining weight. Here's how to keep the weight off during the holidays.

Remember to exercise. When it is busy, it is easy to forget about exercising. At this time of year, you need it more than ever. If you can't devote set blocks of time for exercise, consider adding more physical activity to your day. If you do ten minute mini-workouts throughout the day it can really add up. Go for a walk, do some abdominal exercises, dance at a party- anything that will get the blood moving and keep your muscles toned. This is an essential step for keeping the weight off during the holidays.

Load up on veggies. Instead of worrying about counting calories, just remember to load up on veggies. This is a big secret for holiday weight loss. If you are at a buffet, remember that if you load up half your plate filled with fresh veggies, salad, or low fat vegetable dishes you can still eat the foods you like without adding extra calories.

Eat soup as a first course. Do you want to keep the weight off during the holidays and enjoy holiday weight loss? Studies have shown that people who eat low fat soup as a first course have an easier time maintaining their weight or losing extra pounds. Soup fills you up so you will be less likely to overeat. Remember to make it broth based, not cream based. Cream based soups are loaded with calories.

Choose one dessert. You don't need to skip dessert in order to keep the weight off during the holidays. Just make sure that the desserts you choose to eat are really special. If someone is serving pumpkin pie and you don't really like it, consider skipping it and eating something that you will enjoy. If you think of calories as precious, you will be less likely to squander them on foods you don't enjoy. Just keep the portion small and eat it slowly so you can fully enjoy it.

Everything in moderation. A good thing to remember is that you can have everything in moderation and still enjoy holiday weight loss or keeping the weight off during the holidays. Sometimes it isn't the foods you eat that put on the pounds, it is the portions. Keep the portions small. Pair unhealthy foods with healthy ones. For example, of you want chocolate cake, cut a smaller piece than you normally would and eat it with some fresh fruit. If you want mashed potatoes with butter, make sure you take a small portion but eat a large salad.

If you follow this advice you may surprise yourself by actually losing weight during the holidays. But at the very least, they could prevent you from gaining weight if you are diligent.