Have you ever won a stare-down with a tray of Christmas cookies?  You’ve probably heard that people gain an average of five to ten pounds between Thanksgiving and New Years. The good news is that the real average is more like one to two pounds. The bad news is that most of that weight is never lost. And people who are already overweight tend to gain pounds faster than normal-weight individuals do. Whether you are following the Beyond Health lifestyle to lose weight, or to get well and stay well, the next few months may challenge your resolve like no other time of year. The holiday season—for many now stretching from Halloween to the Superbowl—is a marathon of festive celebrations with friends and family that attempt to bring cheer to what might otherwise be a cold and gloomy time of year. The Challenge of Cheer It’s always harder to maintain your diet when you leave your house, but during the holidays, there is a whole lot of leaving the house. And the ten…

According to the National Institutes of Health the average American adult gains one pound every holiday season. Those who are already overweight tend to gain even more. Unfortunately that weight is usually there to stay; holiday weight gain is the primary reason weight creeps upwards with age. With so many reasons to overeat during the holidays, it’s surprising we don’t gain more. The holidays are traditionally a time for feasting and drinking. But historically, this occurred in the context of food scarcity; many pilgrims starved to death before food sources were established, and abundance was something to be celebrated. We hardly need to celebrate food abundance today, but that hasn’t stopped us from bringing out the cookies, cakes and pies for the holidays. We combine this with alcohol, which impairs inhibitions, stimulates appetite and intensifies the brain’s reward center in response to food! Then there’s stress. Our already challenging to-do lists expand during the holida…