Avoiding weight gain

Contrary to popular belief, you can enjoy eating comfort foods without throwing away your healthy habits. Follow these tips to avoid the dreaded holiday weight gain.
Don’t ‘save’ your appetite. People make this mistake all the time. Wanting to save calories for the big feast ahead, it’s easy to get in the mindset of skipping meals prior to the big meal. This is counterproductive for a number of reasons. For one, it’s easy to make poor eating decisions—whether in food selection or portion size—when your stomach is growling.
After all—you’re starving! A simple way to prevent overeating is loading up on vegetables before the big meal. With so many foodies on social media, it’s super easy to find healthy and delicious recipes online. Moreover, the prep time to roast some Brussels sprouts, broccoli and cauliflower—veggies that are loaded with key nutrients and vitamins—is only five minutes.
Eat dessert. No, this is not a typo. The key in eating any food loaded with calories and carbs is portion control. When it comes to desserts, it’s critical to practice mindful eating. Smell the food, chew slowly and take several bites before swallowing. If you take a lot of time to enjoy every bite, you won’t have to eat a huge slice of pie to feel satisfied.
And please don’t even try to swear off dessert for an extended period of time. This will only set up a binge session later.
Cut back on juice and soda. Sugary drinks contribute heavily to this nation’s obesity epidemic. Quite frankly, it’s one of the worst choices you can make. Let’s use orange juice as an example, since everyone loves a cup of OJ. It takes four oranges to make just one cup (eight ounces) of orange juice.
That’s a lot of sugar and carbs for a small amount of juice. Moreover, the juicing process strips the fruit of most of its fiber, which help regulate blood-sugar levels and keeps you full. Although there’s nothing quite as refreshing as a Coke or glass of OJ, it’s going to be near-impossible to keep the pounds off if sugary drinks are a regular staple of your diet.
Instead, go with Arrowhead flavored carbonated water. It’s refreshing, preservative-free and—wait for it—calorie free.