Will you be asked to dress like Santa this year?

I read an article the other day that said Americans, on average, gain eight pounds over the holiday season between Thanksgiving and New Years! Eight pounds is 28,000 additional calories consumed!  It's no wonder we all make New Year's resolutions to lose weight, we've all gained weight!

So how do we make it through the holidays without gaining weight?

1. Not every item on the buffet needs to be tasted! Scan the buffet table before you start filling your plate.  Fill it with vegetables first, ideally salads not candied yams, leave a little room for a small portion of turkey or ham and a small amount of potatoes. If there is something you truly enjoy once a year like Aunt June's fudge squares have one, but only one and that is your special treat of the day.

2. Plan ahead, if you know you are spending the day with family and the house will be jam packed with temptations, bring a healthy option with you, I love bringing fruit salad. You will notice a lot of people over the course of the holidays are happy to see a light and healthy option after eating so many heavy meals.

3. Have a cut off time and stick to it! I don't eat after 8pm, not because I think calories consumed later in the day end up on my thighs but because I know if I give myself permission to snack after dinner it turns into an evening of one snack after another.

4. Lay off the booze, do you know what tastes really good with a glass of wine? Everything! If you like to drink have a drink, a single drink, enjoy it.

5. Get some sleep!  As the holidays ramp up we all get a little stressed and as our schedules get busier and busier we start to sacrifice sleep to get everything done in time. There are so many studies which link lack of sleep with obesity, who hasn't woken up after too few hours of sleep and spent the entire day looking for energy sources from caffeine and sugar?

6. Avoid the office kitchen at all costs during the holidays! If your office is like mine it is full of holiday gift baskets for the entire month of December. As soon as I cave into one delightful chocolate I open a floodgate and I'm like a crack addict hiding in my office with a fist full of candy sweating and salivating. Avoidance is the only thing that works for me.

7. Stick to your exercise schedule. I know its seems impossible with so many other things to do to fit in a run or a trip to the gym but it is worth it! Just think if nothing else it will be an hour of time just for you!  No one asking you to run to the store, bake eight dozen cookies, clean the house....set aside the time for you and your sanity!

8. Take some time and just relax. Have a cup of tea and sit in front of the fireplace, take a walk around the neighborhood and look at the lights, call a friend you haven't seen in awhile, book yourself a spa treatment, have a nap!

Happy Holidays!