By: Kristen Clifford

Starting and sticking to a diet is hard any time of the year, but the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas can be some of the hardest few weeks! Here are a few things I try to do to keep me from straying from my diet:

1. Be prepared- This is key! If I know I'm going to be at a holiday event I always bring a dish to share. I make sure that the dish I bring is healthy and can fit into my calorie allowance. This way I go into every party knowing, that if there is nothing else for me to eat, I at least have the dish I brought. If I know I'm going out to eat, I always look at the menu ahead of time and plan out what I'm going to eat. Sometimes waiting to look at a menu until I'm hungry makes me lose my willpower.

2. Never go out hungry- I always eat before we go anywhere. I never leave my house hungry because that always leaves me in a bad spot. I'm more likely to cave if my stomach is talking louder than my head!

3. Drink lots of water- Drink, drink, drink! I find the more water I drink, the less hungry I am. If I'm feeling hungry, I always drink a glass of water before eating to make sure it's really hunger and not thirst I'm feeling.

4. Watch your portions- If there are no healthy choices or if you simply can NOT resist then help yourself; just watch your portions. If there are 2 size plates, always pick the smallest plate. Our brains feel the need to fill all the space on a plate so if you have a smaller plate you have less room for calories.

5. Fill up on veggies- When making myself a plate, I always start with the salad or veggies and load the plate so there is very little room for anything else.

6. Indulge every now and then- The best thing is to know yourself. I know that if I eat free will at every holiday party we attend, it will lead to lots of binge eating on my end. I decided ahead of time that on Christmas day I will eat anything and everything I want, but only on Christmas, not every other day. Make a plan ahead of time, decide which days or parties where you'll allow yourself to be carefree, and stick to it.

7. Get back on the horse- Here's the most important thing: if you fall off the diet wagon, just get back on board. You don't need to wait for a Monday, or wait until the holidays are over, just do it. Get back on that horse and be proud of the body you have!