Lose Weight After Holiday Overeating

Holidays pose a major challenge to your weight-loss efforts. Fall and winter months contain so many tempting treats that extra calories are almost a given. The good news is that the average American gains only about a pound during the holiday season, according to the American Dietetic Association. Shedding that spare pound soon after the holidays ensures that you won't have it hanging around your waist for next year's festivities.

Eat Breakfast

If you usually skip breakfast, start eating it. Adding a meal to facilitate weight loss may seem counter-intuitive, but that's just what a 2001 University of Colorado study of long-term weight maintainers suggests. Of successful dieters who participated in the study, 78 percent ate breakfast every day; only 4 percent of those who successfully maintainers weight loss skipped their morning meal. Researchers have many theories about why breakfast helps weight loss: some suggest that it keeps you active, while others focus on how breakfast assuages hunger.

Add Bulk

After huge holiday meals, your body and mind become accustomed to feeling full. Replicate that full feeling with low-calorie vegetables and fruits. The USDA's MyPlate recommendations call for filling half your plate with fruits and vegetables; the other two quarters hold lean protein and a whole grains or starchy vegetable. Combine bulky vegetables with your meals and you'll enhance nutrition and volume without raising your calorie count significantly. Simply adding a layer of fresh spinach to your sandwich or a handful of blueberries to your breakfast oatmeal can make your meals feel more filling.

Move More

The other half of the weight-loss equation, exercise, remains as important during and after the holidays as it does at other times. If cold-weather exercise isn't an option for you during the winter holidays, buy an exercise DVD, a jump rope or an exercise ball. Use the social whirl of the holidays as an excuse to mall-walk or dance at parties. Once the holidays are past, take advantage of specials at health clubs.

Track Food Intake

Even if you make no conscious changes to your dietary habits, keeping a food journal can help you lose weight, according to a 2008 Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research study. The study's participants who kept records of their food intake lost more than twice as much weight as those who did not track their intake. As chief researcher Dr. Jack Hollis pointed out, "It seems that the simple act of writing down what you eat encourages people to consume fewer calories."

Think Positive

If diets mean deprivation to you, reverse your outlook. Think of all the ways you're adding value to your meals, not about what you're cutting. If you're a steak-and-potatoes diner, continue to eat what you enjoy, but in smaller servings, and add variety to your plate with vegetables from asparagus to zucchini. Seeing your dinner as an opportunity to try new foods and make positive changes can help you stay on track. When successful dieters and maintainers describe their weight loss as a lifestyle, this changed outlook is often a part of their success.