The holiday season is here. And with that comes parties, gifts, family, fun, and eating. Tons of eating. You have probably come to accept holiday weight gain as an inevitable. An unavoidable setback to your diet and your goals of living a healthier life and losing weight. Well fear no more! There is no longer a need to be afraid of what your scale will tell you during the holiday season. It is possible to enjoy the holiday season and its tasty meals without major setbacks to your weight loss goals. Best of all these are simple yet effective methods to stay healthy and fit during the holiday season. Let's get started on fighting off that holiday weight gain.

Moderation. Moderation. Moderation. All things in moderation. Portion control is essential this holiday season if you want to keep the weight off. Be mindful of the portions you are eating this holiday season. This does not mean starve yourself. You can still enjoy Mom's stuffing and gravy, just be aware of how much you are eating and keep it to a reasonable level. Portion control is also directed towards your alcohol intake. The calories in eggnog can really add up. As long as you keep your food intake in perspective you will have no problems maintaining your weight throughout the holiday season.

Remain active. You should already be active with walks, exercise, and running if you are striving towards a healthy lifestyle and losing weight. Keep it up. There is no need to take off during the holidays. As long as you remain active you will not have to fear those holiday pounds sneaking up on you. A thirty minute walk each day can do amazing things for the waistline. If it's cold out head to the mall and do some window shopping while getting the walk in. As you can see, remaining active can be as simple as integrating your walks into already planned activities such as holiday shopping.

Get Creative. Research some holiday themed recipes that will make the meal healthier. You do not have to go all out and serve a tofu turkey. Rather, opt for steamed vegetables instead of sauteed. Try eating the turkey without the skin. Simple small changes lead to huge results. Another simple results heavy idea is to serve fresh fruit cocktail for dessert.

Learning how to effectively manage food cravings. Food cravings happen. It's a fact of life that cannot be escaped. You are going to be tempted from all around throughout the holidays. Everywhere you go there is a tempting smell and delicious dish. It's okay to give in every once and a while. Think of it as a reward. Rewards are important while striving for healthy living because it helps keep morale up. After you've had your rewards the next step is learning how to manage the other cravings. The best thing you can do is replace a craving with a healthy alternative or partake in an activity to get your mind off of it.

As you can see these are simple little things that you can do to keep the weight off during the holidays. Just remember, the absolute worst thing that you can do is take your approach to absolute extremes. There is no sense in starvation. There is also no sense in giving up if you've made a bad choice in eating during the holidays. Never give up if you made a poor decision. Keep at it, use the above tips, and you will keep the weight off this holiday season.

To a Thinner You

Joseph Pickering