It’s the hol­i­day sea­son! A sea­son for cheer, joy, fam­ily… but also regret! Regret for help­ing your­self to an extra por­tion of turkey, or cake, or ice-cream and the extra pounds asso­ci­ated with that. And this is exac­er­bated by the fact that it’s not just one hol­i­day, it’s three! First Thanks­giv­ing, then Christ­mas, then New Year’s! This hol­i­day sea­son, plan ahead and get through the sea­son with­out hav­ing to get out your stretch pants.  Here are 10 tips to help you get started.

1.    Weigh your­self once a week.  To stay con­sis­tent get on the scale before you had any­thing to eat or drink.

2.    Always start your day with a healthy break­fast.  Include a lean pro­tein to help you stay full, such as a non-fat Greek yogurt, cot­tage cheese, or eggs.

3.    Don’s skip any meals.  Skip­ping meals does not save you on calo­ries, it only increases your hunger which makes you eat even more dur­ing the next meal.

4.    Start a food jour­nal and write EVERYTHING down you eat AND drink.  Food diaries keep you account­able and can help you iden­tify what’s keep­ing you from    your weight loss goals.

5.    Exer­cise at least three times a week.  As busy as you may be, try to include some exer­cise into your day, even if it’s only 10–15 min­utes of brisk walk­ing, it matters!

6.    Don’t drink your calo­ries, step away from sugar-sweetened bev­er­ages, such as sodas, juices and sweet­ened teas.  These calo­ries can eas­ily add up and stud­ies have found that we don’t com­pen­sate for these calo­ries by eat­ing less.

7.    At hol­i­day par­ties and get-togethers focus on the con­ver­sa­tion not the food.  Try not to stand next to the snack or buf­fet table and min­gle with people.

8.    Eat slowly and wait 20 min­utes before going for seconds.

9.    Drink alco­hol in mod­er­a­tion– that is one drink for women and two for men.  And choose your drinks wisely.  A Mar­garita can have close to 800 calories.

10.     Try not to snack when cook­ing or in-between meals– these lit­tle bites can add up! If you are prepar­ing the food, try to chew gum or snack on baby car­rots or cucum­ber sticks.

Happy Hol­i­days Everyone!