"I need to lose a few pounds ... but that's not going happen anytime soon," my friend said to me one afternoon.

"Why not?" I asked.

"The holidays!" he said, very matter-of-factly.

Oh, of course. Everyone gains weight between Thanksgiving and New Years, right?

This "inevitable weight gain" mentality is common this time of year, and it's questionable whether it's simply a realistic way to approach the holiday season, or if it's an easy way out - a way to allow yourself to rationalize splurging and indulging when the party invitations and tins of fudge start arriving at your door.

According to Kim Vagt, registered dietitian and director of food and nutritional services and the diabetes outpatient education program at Sutter Amador Hospital, average weight gain between the time daylight-saving ends until New Years resolutions kick in is seven pounds. So, if you tend to put on extra pounds during the holidays, you're not alone. But while seven pounds - or even two or three - doesn't sound like a lot, we all know it's harder to lose weight than to gain it, and over time, those pounds could continue to add up if not taken care of.

If you live in fear of the scale beginning the moment the turkey and stuffing are set in front of you, know that weight gain, in fact, is not inevitable. The fate of your waistline depends on your mentality and motivation to eat sensibly.

"People know that there are going to be a lot of special parties and food around this time of year," said Carolyn Woolard, a registered dietitian at Sutter Amador Hospital. "And I think a lot of people kind of sit back and say it's going to happen, that they're going to gain weight - but it doesn't have to happen."

By making sensible decisions and maintaining healthy food portions, you can avoid consuming the excess calories that eventually equal extra pounds, according to Woolard.

"The main thing is to try to look at the foods in front of you say 'either this is a high-calorie or low-calorie food,'" she said. "You should think if it's a lot of calories, eat a little portion. It makes more sense than saying 'I'm going to eat everything I want and deal with it later.'"

So what if you do go overboard one day or at one meal? It is possible to exercise more and eat more lightly the next day in an effort to counteract your splurge - as Woolard put it, "it's better than doing nothing." But if you don't want to gain a substantial amount of weight, you should avoid continually splurging throughout the season.

"For most people, gaining weight at the holidays is a big deal," Woolard said, "because for one, they don't take it off, and two, they will most likely continue on the weight gain cycle. Even if you gain one pound per month, that doesn't sound like a lot, but it is. That's 12 pounds per year and 60 pounds in five years."

The moral of the story is, enjoy your favorite foods on special days during the season, but not all season long. Making sensible choices and following the simple tips on this page will help you maintain your current weight and worry about more important things than whether or not that glass of eggnog will actually go straight to your hips.



Tips to help burn those extra calories

Don't forget or underestimate the calorie-burning power of everyday activities. Not only does staying active help burn the excess calories you're bound to consume, but it also helps relieve some of the stress that goes hand-in-hand with the hustle and bustle of the holiday season. Here are some easy ways to keep moving:

- Playing: Playing with children and picking up after them burns around 120 calories per hour.

- Shopping: Gift shopping, grocery shopping, carrying bags and loading them into the car can burn upwards of 135 calories per hour.

- Walking: Make a conscious effort to go out on a walk with a friend, animal, etc., to walk around stores and malls or park further away from a store entrance. All of these activities add up to burning anywhere between 90 and 250 calories per hour or more, depending on how hard you're working.

- Household chores: Raking fall leaves off the lawn, mowing the lawn, gardening, heavy housework and similar activities can burn up to 230 calories per hour.

- Golfing: Depending on whether you ride a cart between holes, wheel your own cart and walk between holes, or pick up your golf bag and move quickly between holes. You could burn anywhere between 250 and 370 calories per hour.

- The most important thing to remember if you are actively trying not to pack on the pounds between now and New Years is that you must burn as many calories a day as you consume to maintain your current weight. So if you know you ate more than usual, you should attempt to move around more than usual and stay as active as you can in general.



Ways to fight Yuletide excess: More tips for a healthy holiday season, as outlined in Sutter Amador Hospital's nutrition tips:

Don't deny yourself

Be selective in food choices

Take smaller portions

Stay active and exercise

Rejoice in the holiday spirit

Get regular sleep

Eat slowly and savor each flavor

Go easy on alcoholic beverages

Make "time-out" for yourself each day to lower stress

Don't strive for perfection; overindulging once won't blow your entire diet

Enjoy the season and give thanks



Tried and true tips for a healthy season

When searching various health publications for tips on how to survive the holidays without noticeable weight gain, there are certain ideas that consistently come up. The following are those tried and true ways to enjoy the holidays while ensuring that your New Year's resolution won't be to lose those new, extra pounds.

- Eat breakfast: Most people are pressed for time during the season between shopping, entertaining, being entertained, mailing holiday cards and other activities, but skipping breakfast is not a smart way to try to make up that time. Breakfast helps you start your day off fueled, keeps you satiated throughout the morning and prevents bingeing later in the day. Make sure to make time for this important meal.

- Don't starve yourself: On the same note, skipping other meals throughout the day to "save up" calories for a bigger meal or make up for a night of poor eating harms your body in many ways. First, it can slow your metabolism causing your body to inefficiently burn calories. Second, it almost ensures that you will over-eat at some point in the day. If you're going to a holiday get-together at night, you're likely to binge on hors d'oeuvres or the main course if you have deprived yourself all day long.

- Drink plenty of non-alcoholic beverages: It's important to maintain healthy levels of water consumption when faced with free-flowing champagne, egg-nog and other traditional or special drinks. Some nutrition experts recommend drinking water, seltzer water or a diet soda before a party or holiday meal to fill your stomach and help keep you from over-eating. Others recommend drinking a similar non-alcoholic beverage in-between each alcoholic beverage in social settings to help fill you up and prevent hangovers.

- Be a selective eater: Of course you're going to eat your favorite foods at special holiday meals, and that's perfectly fine. What you want to avoid is eating whatever is in front of you just because it is in front of you. Enjoy your favorites and forego the "so-so" foods.

- Exercise: Maybe you don't actively exercise now, and in that case, read "Tips to help burn those extra calories" above to stay active doing daily activities. But if you are an avid exerciser and have a regular routine, make sure to stick to it and not let extra activities and social events keep you from it. You'll thank yourself come Jan. 2.

- Holidays are days: Remember that the entire holiday season shouldn't be mistaken for a holi-day. Don't use the next month and a half as an excuse to splurge every day.