The holidays are upon us and that means many people will grow to hate their bathroom scale even more than usual.

Lo and behold, the holiday eating pounds can begin creeping on again this year!

But it doesn’t have to be that way!  Holiday weight gain does not have to be a given.

You CAN sail through the holidays, enjoy yourself and maintain your weight—it’s easier than you think.

Here’s how:

Sherry Brescia’s Top 10 Tips to Avoid Holiday Weight Gain

Don’t “bank calories”

When they have a holiday dinner to attend, many people will starve themselves all day long to “bank” calories so they can indulge later on.  But this can blow up in your face because by the time you get to the dinner, you’ll be positively ravenous…and will end up eating far more than you normally would.

Stick to three reasonable meals a day.  Have breakfast and lunch—then when the holiday dinner time comes around, you’ll be far less likely to overeat.

Incorporate healthy options into your holiday menus

Include things like a crudité platter, shrimp with cocktail sauce, spinach stuffed mushrooms, deviled eggs or guacamole in your party appetizer lineup. 

And for a lighter alternative to heavy mashed potatoes, try mashed cauliflower!  Cook cauliflower until tender and mash with butter, milk and seasoning just like you would potatoes.

Alternate your drinks

If you want to have alcohol or rich holiday drinks (like eggnog), alternate each of the alcoholic or rich drinks with a water or club soda.  That way you end up taking in fewer liquid calories over the course of the evening, and are helping to keep your alcohol consumption under control.

Don’t say no!

Allow yourself a dessert on holidays—whether it’s a slice of pie, a piece of cake or a few Christmas cookies.  Permitting yourself to indulge a little will prevent feelings of deprivation and make it less likely that you will feel compelled to binge on the sweets after everyone has left.

Remember to exercise

Holidays are a time when we’ve all got a lot going on, but this is not the time to skip your workouts.  Make the time to exercise, and if you truly are short on time on a certain day, half a workout is better than none.

Eat dinner just before a party

Eating a nutritious dinner just before you go to a party and arriving with a full stomach will decrease the number of snacks you eat overall and help prevent overindulging in fattening foods.

Support efficient digestion

Having efficient digestion is essential to maintaining your weight 365 days a year.  And since the holidays are when we eat the most and the widest variety of foods, chances are excellent your system might need some assistance with digestion.  Let Digestizol Max digestive enzyme formula support your body through holiday “food challenges” and keep your digestion in tip-top shape.

Digestizol Max’s complete blend of 15 powerhouse, plant-derived enzymes will help your body tackle just about anything you can eat, and leave you feeling much more comfortable (less gassy and bloated)! 

Choose protein over starch

Proteins keep you full and satisfied longer than starches, so choose protein appetizers like cocktail meatballs, shrimp, nuts, cheese or sausage stuffed cherry peppers over chips, breads, crackers or sweets. 

At a dinner buffet, opt for meat, poultry or fish and lots of vegetables, and skip the rolls, potatoes, pasta or rice.

Here’s an added bonus—just like sweets, starches turn to sugar upon digestion, and sugar feeds the harmful bacteria in your gut, which can cause gas, bloating and weaken your immune system.  Sticking to proteins can help encourage a healthier gut environment by putting less sugar in your system.

Get enough sleep

Lacking sleep is associated with increased hunger and appetite as well as weight gain, so now is not the time to skimp on your sleep.  Aim to get between seven and nine hours each night. 

If you’re having trouble sleeping try having a snack of leftover turkey or sip chamomile tea at night.  Tryptophan or melatonin supplements can help too.

Make sure your nutrient bases are covered

Your level of hunger is a function of how well your body is nourished, and if you’re lacking in core nutrients, your inner dinner bell will ring (and you will be far more likely to overeat).

Problem is, even the healthiest diet can’t provide everything you need.  That’s because our food is inherently less nutritious than it once was, plus many of us take medications which impair nutrient absorption, and our high stress levels (especially around the holidays!) cause nutrients to be burned away at an alarming rate.

So the best way to make sure all your nutritional bases are covered is to supplement with a high quality multi-vitamin and mineral formula like Super Core.

In addition to supporting your body with a well-rounded, therapeutic blend of nutrients, Super Core also provides the added bonus of natural anti-inflammatories and antioxidants—to help ease harmful inflammation and counteract disease-causing free radicals. 

There you have it—no need to fear your bathroom scale for the next 5 weeks!

To your health and happy holidays,

Sherry Brescia