Weight Loss Tips During the Holidays

With the holidays approaching many of us will eat way too much of that delicious turkey and dressing and have too many pieces of pumpkin pie. It's easy to get caught up in the holiday festivities and give in to the tempting smells of your favorite foods. If you're not careful you'll overeat and pack on unwanted extra pounds. Follow these simple weight loss tips and enjoy your meals this holiday season without gaining weight or feeling guilty about eating too much.

Eat slowly. When you sit down to begin eating, take your time and chew your food thoroughly. Gulping down your food and eating fast will make you want to go back and fill your up again. When you take your time eating and savoring the taste of food, your tummy will feel fuller as the food settles. If your stomach feels full, there is less of a chance you'll go back for second helpings.

Eat a snack before the big meal. On the day of the holiday gathering try to have a snack about fifteen minutes before you sit down to eat. Choose a light snack such a glass of cold milk, a handful of mixed nuts, or a banana. Doing this can help your tummy be a little full already from the snack and you will not be tempted to overeat. If you're not starving by the time you do sit down to eat you will not want big portions of all of the tempting foods set out on the holiday table.

Use a smaller plate. Everyone tends to fill his or her big sized plates with food so instead of using the common dinner plate to eat on this year try using a smaller salad plate for your food. There is not as much room on a small plate and you can tell yourself once that plate is full of food that this is all you will eat. Try placing everything you need on the smaller sized plate too. Place some turkey and dressing on one side and on the other side put a small portion of beans and fill in a space with potatoes and right in the middle of the plate in the empty space will be the perfect spot for that piece of pumpkin pie and put the roll on top of the beans. With a little bit of everything on your plate already you will more than likely not make another pass around the food table.

Be sensible with your food choices. You can have all the turkey that you want but instead of piling starchy foods like potatoes, green bean casserole, corn and rolls a mile high on your plate try to choose only one of them or just limit the portion size of each of the starchy foods.

Wait before you go back for seconds. If you feel like you are still hungry after your first plate, sit and wait at the table for twenty minutes to give your tummy the time it needs to digest the food you have already eaten. By the time twenty minutes has passed you should not feel hungry anymore or you may not feel as hungry as you were before. So if you do go back for seconds you will more than likely have just a little more something to eat instead of heaping helpings. Remember it is not as much what we eat that makes us gain weight but how much we eat.

Limit your alcohol intake. If there is alcohol served you can have a couple of drinks, but if you're trying to avoid calories then you'll want to limit yourself. After having a couple of alcoholic drinks, try switching to wine spritzers, light beer, soda, water, or tea and alternate back and forth between the beverages. Be sure you don't overdo it on the sodas either because can be full of calories.

You can eat all of your favorite yummy holiday food without gaining weight by using a these common sense tips. Then the only thing that will be stuffed this holiday season will be the turkey, not you.