Battle the Holiday Bulge

I love the holidays for all the wonderful parties and food, but of course have had to learn to take some extra steps during this festive time of year to prevent adding holiday pounds as I add events to my calendar. It’s easy to overeat at the company party or enjoy too many of those themed little cocktails people love so much (I mean come on, chocolate in a martini just sounds too good to pass up on). You don’t want to be the freak that is standing in the corner gazing longingly at the buffet and won’t eat or drink anything. So what do you do to stop overindulging? Check out these tips I’ve compiled from some favorite sites and past experience:

1. Plan Ahead – If you know you’re going to a party or something during meal time, have a healthy snack before you go to the party to ensure you’re not ravenous and diving on the first fat packed snack you see.
2. Track Your  Eating Habits – I’m a big fan of food journaling as a beginning step for any diet improvement plan, but during the holidays keeping track of what you eat serves to discourage you from forgetting about those four extra drinks and the sample tray of desserts you devoured at your friends’ holiday celebration. Even if you want to just track your eating habits on weekends and special events, actually seeing what you eat will help motivate you from overdoing it again and again.
3. Sip Slowly – A trick I red in the book French Women Don’t Get Fat and that I still try to follow is to linger over your drinks. If you want to have a special cocktail or glass of bubbly, don’t worry about drinking too many and just limit yourself to one or two going in. Sip slowly and make the drink last longer. You’ll still look sociable and still get to enjoy your drink, but you ensure you won’t swig down too many calories by making each glass last longer.
4. Work it Out – You don’t need to have a gym or a lot of time, but you NEED to workout whenever you can during the holidays. So many of us use the excuse that we’re too busy, but there are a few basic and very effective exercises that you can and should be doing for maximum impact. About.com has more on the five exercises you need to be doing here.