Trying to lose weight is hard enough. Dieting during the festive season? It's like being stuck between a rock and a hard place. The holidays are about family, fun and especially food. In the United States, many, if not most, families celebrate Thanksgiving with a feast, and during the Christmas holidays, desserts are always on the menu. Here are a few ways that the holidays can undermine your weight loss plans.

- Amount of food

The first and most obvious reason of all is the amount of food that you will have available to you. Whenever you visit someone during this time of the year, you will undoubtedly smell cookies baking or see candy hung from the Christmas tree. You will most likely be invited to a Thanksgiving dinner with all of the fixings. When this happens, you are tempted by the amount of food that you see.

- People around you

If the people with whom you hang out are not trying to lose weight, they may eat more than you. And, as a result, you will want to keep up with them. This is how influential others' eating habits are on our own. You can observe this phenomenon the next time you are sitting to a meal with others. After your first serving, do you crave more food because others have taken more servings?

Also, if the people around you are giving you food as gifts, you will not be able to get away with losing weight. After all, you can't let their presents go to waste.

- Holiday stress

Undoubtedly, the holiday stress will get to you. For many of us, that means eating more. Stress affects people in many different ways, but for some, stress will encourage them to eat more. It is a way to cope with the stress, and it is very unhealthy. However, the holidays are a stressful time of the year - we have to purchase gifts on time, we have to visit family and friends, we have to check our finances, and we may not get a minute to relax. These will affect the way we eat.

Many other reasons will exist as to why it is difficult to keep a weight loss plan during the holiday season. The ones listed above are general and usually hold true for many people. However, you may have your own reasons why the festive part of the year creates obstacles for your weight loss goals.

Learn more about this author, Joan Inong.
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