Conquer the Holidays with these Weight Loss Tips!

The holidays are an exciting time of year. But between the parties, stress and baked goods, it's also a time when people tend to gain weight.

In fact, between mid-November and mid-January, adults gain an average of one pound, or half a kilogram.

This may not seem like a lot, but most people don't lose the weight they gain over the holidays. For this reason, holiday weight gain is one of the biggest contributors to total yearly weight gain for many people.

The good news is that weight gain during the holidays is not inevitable.

For weeks, you have tracked your food and exercised regularly to improve your health and alter the shape of your body. More than a "diet" or a fitness fad, you've created real lifestyle changes and built the confidence that you can stick with it for the long haul. So why is the winter holiday season so intimidating—even scary—for so many?

The answer is complex. Sure, there's the food. Unlike other food-centric holidays like Valentine's Day or Halloween, the winter holiday season lasts for weeks. There are more parties, more potlucks, more food gifts, more cookies and well, just more everything! And these temptations won't be going away any time soon. Then there's the stress. Buying gifts, volunteering, decorating, cooking and party hopping often take the place of cooking healthy meals at home or hitting the gym. Like an infant sitting on Santa's lap for the first time, it's no wonder we're scared of the holidays and the infamous weight gain they encourage. How can we keep up with a healthy diet and fitness program—let alone lose weight—with all of this going on around us, day after day?

That answer is simple: Stick with your plan. You've overcome temptations and slip-ups before. Every day poses challenges, yet you remain strong and continue to make progress toward your goals. Why should the holidays be any different? If you want to lose weight this month, you can. You just have to choose to stay in control, one day at a time.

1. Fit your meals around your lifestyle:
Trying to change the way you live to accommodate a new way of eating is guaranteed to result in failure. For example, trying to turn yourself into a Domestic Goddess when you work incredibly long hours or only buying foods from a health food shop when you have a family of four to feed will quickly result in you ditching your diet. Instead, fit your diet around your lifestyle and you'll be far more likely to shift those pounds.

2. Keep your food diary:
Get into the habit of filling in your WLR food diary each day. Remember to include every single item you eat and drink, including all the little extras - that chocolate you ate in the office, the sliver of cheese you had while cooking dinner and the few chips you pinched from your husband's or wife's plate, for example!

If you only fill in your food diary once a day, keep a pen and jotter with you to help you keep track of your intake - it's easy to forget the little things if they're not written down, but they can make the difference between dieting success and failure.

3. Weigh, then go:
Jumping on the scales several times a day will do little to keep you motivated. Most people's weight fluctuates dramatically throughout the day as fluid intakes change - often making it look as though you've gained 4lb between 8am and 8pm!

Weigh yourself just once a week, at the same time of day - most people prefer first thing in the morning - and wearing the same clothing. And if you can't stay off the scales, ask a friend to store them for you and weigh yourself just once a week when you're out shopping.

4. Measure your success:
Don't just focus on what the bathroom scales say - keep a record of your vital statistics, too. Many people find it doubly encouraging to see the inches dropping off, as well as the pounds!

5. Ditch 'diet' foods:
Stay away from foods that make you feel like you're 'dieting'. You know the ones: rice cakes, thin soups, meal replacement drinks, crispbreads, limp lettuce leaves, steamed white fish and soggy cucumber - unless of course you like them. After all, food should be pleasurable not painful!

6. Be a copy cat:
Look at the way slim people eat and drink and pick up some of their habits. For example, they might order a gin and slimline tonic (50 calories) rather than a glass of wine (100 calories); they might skip dessert or not put butter on their bread roll when eating out; or they might only occasionally succumb to the daily chocolate run at work!

7. Avoid 'all or nothing' thinking:
One small overindulgence doesn't mean you've 'blown your diet' or give you free licence to go on a food fest! Simply put the indulgence behind you and move on and away from the fridge!

8. Eat more, weigh less:
Focus on eating more of the 'good' things and it should automatically help you eat less of the 'bad' things. For example, boosting your intake of fruit and veg will help you eat less fatty and sugary foods because they'll help you feel fuller for longer.

9. But size still matters:
To shift those pounds, it's likely you'll need to reduce your serving sizes as well as make some smart food swaps to cut calories. Even 'healthy' foods such as brown rice, wholemeal bread, chicken, fish and low-fat dairy products contain calories so you may need to limit your portions.

When you first start out, it's a good idea to weigh portions of foods like rice, pasta, cereal, cheese, meat, fish and chicken rather than completing your WLR food diary with a 'guesstimated' weight!

10. Identify bad habits:
Be aware of things that sabotage your good intentions and swap them for new healthier habits. For example, instead of going straight to the fridge when you get home, go straight to the fruit bowl; or if you always buy a bar of chocolate when you walk past the newsagent, take a different route.

BONUS TIP. Healthy eating is for life - not just for Christmas!
If you want to lose weight - and keep it off - it's important to focus on changing your eating habits for life. 'Going on a diet' infers you start on a particular day, finish on a particular day and only change what you eat in between, so that once your 'diet' is finished you return to the eating habits that made you pile on the pounds in the first place! Instead, use the Weight Loss Christmas Challenge to slim for Christmas AND kickstart a longer-term healthy eating plan that you can sustain for life.