If you celebrate Christmas, you may be worrying over the potential extra pounds you will put on during this holiday season. After all, food will surround you: cookies, cakes, pies and turkeys, as well as hams, casseroles, and baked potatoes with butter. With all of this food, it's no wonder that people gain a few extra pounds over the holidays. This article will provide you with a few tips and tricks that may help you keep extra weight off this Christmas.

- Moderation

If you have ever practiced moderation, you may well know that this is a difficult diet to enforce. After all, we are all influenced by the amount that other people eat, as well as by the stress levels and anxiety that fill our daily lives. With all of these factors in mind, it is important to note that moderation is really not a diet (as defined by the fad diet industry). When you practice moderation, it becomes an important part of your life and you are able to say "No" to any food when you want to. Moderation means that you won't have to starve or deprive yourself of your favorite foods.

- Reduce food portions

If you can follow this tip, try it. Although some people are against food portioning, it is actually one of the best ways to start moderating the foods that you eat. This way, you always get a little bit of everything that you want. You won't feel guilty, and you won't feel like you missed out on your favorites. Many times, isolation and the feeling that everyone else is able to do what they want to (and you can't) are the most detrimental factors to our weight goals.

- Change recipes

Some people will say that changing "sacred" recipes is blasphemy. However, if you are watching your weight and you still want to be able to eat cookies and your cake, too, you may want to substitute a few fatty ingredients for healthier ones. For example, try choosing gluten-free baked recipes. Change white rice or baked potatoes for wild rice and sweet potatoes.

- Exercise often

While you follow any one of the tips above, you should also be exercising. At this point in the year, it can be stressful trying to find gifts or trying to plan family get togethers. Fortunately, exercise helps relieve stress and ease anxiety. Do it often and you will also lose weight or maintain your current weight.

As you can see, you don't have to go through this Christmas feeling bad whenever you take a bite of Grandma's famous cookies. Follow these tips and you won't gain weight this Christmas.

Learn more about this author, Joan Inong.
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