{"id":14593,"date":"2009-12-07T01:00:00","date_gmt":"2009-12-07T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/?p=14593"},"modified":"2010-08-19T22:13:38","modified_gmt":"2010-08-20T03:13:38","slug":"five-tips-to-avoid-holiday-weight-gain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/12\/five-tips-to-avoid-holiday-weight-gain\/","title":{"rendered":"Five Tips to Avoid Holiday Weight Gain"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a title=\"holiday weight gain\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/12\/five-tips-to-avoid-holiday-weight-gain\/\" target=\"_self\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-14733\" title=\"holiday weight gain\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/holiday-weight-gain.jpg\" alt=\"holiday weight gain\" width=\"240\" height=\"239\" srcset=\"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/holiday-weight-gain.jpg 300w, https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/holiday-weight-gain-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 240px) 100vw, 240px\" \/><\/a>A word to the wise: don&#8217;t try to lose weight during the holiday season. This is a really difficult time to work on weight loss, thanks to the PARTIES! and COOKIES! and COMPANY VISITING! You&#8217;ll end up either a) frustrated beyond belief or b) full of guilt and angst. I know. I&#8217;ve done it for more than a few holiday seasons.<\/p>\n<p>Instead of vowing to lose, why not make a commitment to maintain and avoid further weight gain. Here are five tips that can help you stay in the right direction:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Before you attend a party<\/strong>, take some time to burn extra calories. Take an extra long walk, do an extra bike ride or exercise DVD. Eat lightly during the day. Don&#8217;t skip a meal, for that makes you so hungry that the next meal become a free for all. <!--more--><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Avoid <a title=\"calories in alcohol\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dietsinreview.com\/slideshows\/calories-in-alcohol\/\" target=\"_self\">alcohol<\/a><\/strong>. Full of empty calories and not much else, alcoholic drinks can quickly add unwanted calories to your daily budget. If you really must have a drink, limit yourself to one of your favorites and then switch to a wine spritzer or even water with pieces of fruit (every bar has cherries, lemons, limes and oranges.) This is actually a really yummy drink.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Everyone has a holiday treat that just makes the meal<\/strong>. For me, it&#8217;s pumpkin pie. When I make pumpkin pie, I make some small adjustments. I use egg beaters, fat-free evaporated milk, and I cook the filling in the Crock Pot, rather than in a pie crust. This allows me to enjoy my pie in a delicious, lower fat version. Take some time to experiment with your favorite recipe &#8211; maybe you can cut the sugar, use non-fat milk or <a title=\"egg substitute recipe\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dietsinreview.com\/recipes\/egg-substitute\/\" target=\"_self\">egg substitute<\/a>. Possibly you can switch the oil for applesauce. If you are stuck, look online. There are lots of websites devoted to healthy changes in any recipe.<a title=\"pumpkin pie\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/12\/five-tips-to-avoid-holiday-weight-gain\/\" target=\"_self\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-14736\" title=\"pumpkin pie\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/12\/pumpkin-pie.jpg\" alt=\"pumpkin pie\" width=\"300\" height=\"229\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Watch your <a title=\"portion size\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/01\/know-your-portion-sizes\/\" target=\"_self\">portion size<\/a><\/strong>. If you simply must have Great Aunt Edna&#8217;s Pecan Pie &#8211; and that would be ME! &#8211; go with a small slice, not half the pie. Remember, everything in moderation &#8211; as soon as you put any food off limits, you are virtually guaranteed to crave it even more.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><a title=\"stress and obesity\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/08\/stress-makes-us-fat\/\" target=\"_self\">Stress<\/a> leads to overeating<\/strong>. Think carefully about your plans for the holiday season. Do you really have to do everything? Just because you always see the parade doesn&#8217;t mean that you have to this year, especially if it stresses you out. Take the time to get enough sleep, take your vitamins, and use your exercise to relieve stress.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The holiday season doesn&#8217;t have to equal weight gain. With just a little prep work, you can avoid the weight gain and start the new year in a great position!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A word to the wise: don&#8217;t try to lose weight during the holiday season. This is a really difficult time to work on weight loss, thanks to the PARTIES! and COOKIES! and COMPANY VISITING! You&#8217;ll end up either a) frustrated &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/12\/five-tips-to-avoid-holiday-weight-gain\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[3,1,340,320,234],"class_list":["post-14593","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tag-diet-tips","tag-diets-in-review","tag-holidays","tag-stress","tag-weight-gain"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14593","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14593"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14593\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28582,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14593\/revisions\/28582"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14593"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14593"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14593"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}