Tis the season to by jolly, right? But must you expand to the rotund dimension of old St. Nick while partaking in holiday festivities?

Certainly not. Some friendly, featherweight elves offer their hints to help you keep your waistline from widening without sacrificing your seasonal high spirits.

Livable limits

If you have a tendency towards weight gain, you will naturally have to restrict your intake of calorie-crammed holiday goodies, but gear yourself for success by setting limitations you can live with. Fasting before a feast or crash dieting create dietary imbalances and may lead to binging. This in turn can cause guilt feelings which you may be inclined to treat with further overindulgence. So rather than trying to drop pounds, work towards maintaining your current weight until the celebrations are over. Serious dieting is more easily begun with the dawning of a new year.

You can compensate for an evening of overeating by sticking to a low calorie regime before or after the fact. If you have accepted an invitation from a host or hostess known for gourmet cooking, plan to breakfast on poached or boiled eggs and make lunch of a slimming salad. When temptation gets the best of you one day, cut back on fattening foods the next day.

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