Research studies have found that people gain weight during the holidays. No surprise, right? It is generally believed that people gain between five and ten pounds throughout the November and December holidays. However, the most recent data indicates that about one pound is gained. That doesn’t sound too bad. However, the findings also showed that people didn’t lose that small gain. Seems small, but in ten years it will mean an increase in clothing size. The researchers did find that those people who were already overweight were more likely to gain five or more pounds during the holiday season.

Avoid becoming included in any of those statistics. Here’s a strategic plan to turn those holiday parties, buffets and goodies into a win-win situation. Pick the tactics listed below that will be most appropriate for your situation, goals and personality.

• Pick foods that you only eat at the holidays. You’ll probably feel deprived and a little depressed if you don’t have them. Watch the portion size and ignore the other goodies that you can have any time.
• Eat something before going to the party. Arriving on an empty stomach makes it more difficult to control your eating and to stick to your strategic plan. Fill up at home on raw or cooked vegetables or vegetable soup. Or, have a glass of skim milk, a small carton of lite yogurt, or a piece of fruit.
• Drink non-calorie beverages. The obvious examples are ice water and diet soft drinks. Tomato juice and vegetable cocktail juice are other low calorie choices. Remember that no one will be able to tell if your beverage is alcoholic or not, so don’t worry about being different from the rest of the crowd. You can always ask to have a twist of lemon or lime added to the water or some celery to the vegetable cocktail juice (it’s actually now a Virgin Mary!) to make it more festive.
• If you wish to have an alcoholic beverage, be sure to sip it very slowly. That way, it will be less likely that someone will be offering you another one. Alcohol is also an appetite stimulant—another reason to go easy on it—and another source of calories.
• If you know the hostess, offer to bring something to the party. Prepare something that you know is low calorie and fits into your strategic plan.
• Be sure to put exercise into your schedule on party days. Actually exercise should be on your schedule the other days too! You might want to increase it a bit the day before and after a party, especially if you did overeat.
• If the party is at your house, send leftovers along with the guests. Especially if you have put out bowls of calorie-dense foods like candy and nuts or other foods that you have trouble eating in small quantities or that are likely to sabotage your strategic plan for the day(s) after the party.
• Better yet, plan your party so that both you and your guests have the opportunity to control portions. Put out smaller plates. Cut foods into bite size pieces and use smaller serving bowls and utensils.
• Above all enjoy the party by making the people who are there your priority—find out about their live—at a location arms reach beyond the food!

    Wishing you a happy, healthy holiday season!