by Michelle Wilkinson

Created on: April 19, 2009   Last Updated: November 29, 2011

Part of what makes the holidays so enjoyable is the fact that you get to eat and drink lots. Often holiday celebrations are centred around food, as families sit down together to eat a large meal on Christmas Day, whilst New Year's Eve provides an excuse for everyone to get slightly tipsy. You often give into the moment and choose not to take into consideration the fact that unrestrained eating and drinking will probably result in you gaining weight. Perhaps you are familiar enough with your body to be able to monitor exactly how much you can eat without gaining much weight, or maybe you are prepared to go on a diet after the holidays are over. It is probably best not to find yourself in the position of needing to lose lots of weight after the holidays, though, as it is usually a depressing enough time as it is.

That means you need to take care of what you eat. If you are a healthy weight and usually follow a reasonably healthy diet you at least know how much you can eat without gaining weight, and know, in theory, how to curb your excessive eating. It can be harder if your weight is a constant struggle, though, as there are far too many temptations around during the holidays. Even people who are a healthy weight can sometimes find themselves eating much more than they had planned to.

It is therefore a good idea for you to buy only the food you need and to not go overboard on snacks and treats. You usually find that you buy in too much food in order to keep your relatives happy, only to find that they don't like certain foods or that they are too busy scoffing down the big box of chocolates they got for Christmas instead of the snacks you've laid out. You usually end up with lots of junk food that needs using up and find that you are the only person who will eat most of it.

The holidays involve enough food as it is, since Christmas Day usually involves a big family feast involving a turkey and lots of rich, fattening extras. You should try to take it easy on the extras, and eat slowly so that you will be able to recognise when you are full. If you are full you should stop eating, even if it is tempting to finish off whatever is on your plate before moving on to desert.

If you do find yourself succumbing to overindulgence, don't worry about it too much, but you probably shouldn't use the fact that you have eaten too much one day as an excuse to continue overeating for the next week or two. You might tell yourself that you can lose the weight as soon as the New Year's celebrations are over, but it is much simpler not to find yourself in the position of needing to lose weight in the first place. You should therefore try to restrict how much food you eat over the holidays and increase your activity levels so that you can counter any extra calories you might consume.

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