Enjoy The Holidays Without Gaining Weight

What is the secret of getting through the Holidays without gaining lots of weight?

For most people who want to lose weight, the thought of Holiday dinners fills them with dread. Yet this should be a time of great enjoyment and fun. It's a time to offer thanks, to hold family gatherings and to eat — turkey, stuffing, cranberries and pumpkin pie.

You may be busy organizing and cooking family meals. Undoubtedly, there will be an abundance of food available and the temptation to overeat will be high. Thanksgiving is just the kick to heavy eating season, and you probably find yourself thinking, planning and preparing for it well in advance. I've found that this is when most people's dread of possible weight gain starts and the pressure is on. It's also the start of the whole holiday season including Christmas and New Year, which stretches across almost two months.

There's enough pressure from others telling us we should lose weight without putting even more pressure on ourselves. You've probably heard many different rules and ways to stop overeating at this time of year. Many experts seem to say "Only eat when you're hungry, "Just walk away from the food," or "Stick to eating low calorie foods." I'm sure we would all have followed this advice, no problem. If only it were that easy! When we try to restrict ourselves, it's difficult to maintain and when we don't manage it, we often end up with low self-esteem.

Most diet plans are restrictive and difficult to fit into your life. You are also expected to make so many changes at once, which for most of us isn't achievable and this sets us up to fail. When you feel that something is achievable, you will have much more success.

The permanent route to weight loss is to make changes to your attitudes, behavior, habits and lifestyle. These changes won't happen overnight and can only be gradually incorporated into your life. Take it one step at a time.

Wendy Hearn is a weight loss success coach in the United Kingdom, and author of "The Top 10 Things That Stop YOU From Losing Weight."