With Christmas and Thanksgiving literally right around the corner, it’s time to start thinking about ways to make certain that you don’t sabotage all the hard work of dieting and exercise that you’ve done the entire year. Isn’t it just crazy how simple it is to get off track of healthy eating and exercise and how hard it is to get right back on track? It’s like nature’s cruel trick of having Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year all so close together.

Every one of those holidays revolves around snacking, eating and drinking! If you are worried that your hard work is going to be pushed to the wayside this upcoming holiday season, here are some simple tips to beat the holiday weight gain!

Simple Tips to Beat the Holiday Weight Gain

• Don’t put an immense amount of pressure on yourself. If you are constantly worried that you are going to fail your diet, you will. Allow yourself a bit of wiggle room and forgiveness and you’ll find that you won’t make such a mountain out of a molehill when it comes to your holiday eating. You can still enjoy the food, not just in an overindulgent abundance!
• Give yourself a taste of the good food here and there! If you limit yourself too much, you’ll go overboard crazy at some point in time and just want to eat everything. If there is a plate of cookies that look amazing, take a bite! If someone made your favorite pie, take a taste! It’s the holiday’s and it’s one of the tastiest time of the year, so allowing yourself a bit of taste-testing here and there is perfectly fine and will actually keep you on track of your diet more than you realize!
• Pack your own main course for all those family gatherings. Sometimes, the willpower to say “no” just isn’t there. And that’s okay! If you know that you can’t say no, then it’s time to pack up your own main course and food options and take them with you. If you take what you can eat, then there’s no way that you’ll get off course of your diet during the holiday time!
• Even if you have a “cheat” day, keep up with the exercise. Your body is an amazing machine, so even if you have a day or two where you over-indulge, keep up with your workout routine. You won’t undo all the hard work that you’ve done throughout the year just by having a couple of down days. The sooner you realize this, the better you’ll stay on track.
• Be your own biggest cheerleader. You know what it takes to keep off the holiday weight. It’s not a huge mystery and you know that. Tell yourself that you have what it takes to get through the holidays, and it’ll happen.

While it may not be fun to think about the possibility of putting on the holiday weight, these simple tips are great ways to keep it off and to stay on track. Knowing that it’s possible to relax and stay on track is the perfect way to kick off the holiday season!