This is the first of a series of posts on how to survive the Holidays. For those of us in the United States, we have nearly three months of food, parties, alcohol, and temptation. It starts with Thanksgiving in November, moves on to Christmas in December, continues with New Years Eve and Day, and ends sometime in January with the obligatory SuperBowl parties (which you often can’t avoid, football fan, or not). And even for those of us not in the States, Christmas, Hanukkah, New Years, and other seasonal holidays often put a crimp in weight loss and dieting plans!
Our first weight loss tip for the holiday season is this: Plain to Maintain
What does that mean? It means that for some people it might be better to not try to lose weight over the holidays. The pressure of special (and often calorie laden) holiday foods, parties, eating out, family and friends, and so many other things makes it really hard to say “no no no” all the time. And you don’t want to be the party pooper who sits at their desk while coworkers are socializing, or rejects every party invitation, or comes to the Thanksgiving dinner table with your Tupperware container of chicken breast, brown rice, and steamed broccoli!
Instead set your mind that for the next three months, you’ll maintain your current weight by making healthy choices and continuing to exercise, but allowing yourself a little more leeway than you do when you’re in a strict weight loss mode.
Not only will planning to maintain take some of the pressure off, it will also give you a bit of insight into how you’ll handle things after you’ve reached your goal.
Of course if you’re still able to lose weight over the holidays, we salute you! (And we want to know what your will power secret is! 
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