In the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, it’s little wonder that so many people get off track with their fitness and nutrition plans. Many times you’re faced with too many things to do, too many places to be and not enough time to get it all done. So how do you avoid holiday weight gain and still make the most of this exciting time of the year? Proper eating strategies for the holidays are absolutely essential in order to keep caloric damage to a minimum.

Holiday parties and family gatherings often mean fabulous food and high calorie drinks in large quantities. For those of us who watch our weight, the holidays can be particularly dangerous. Here are three good eating strategies for the holidays that can help avoid holiday weight gain and a bad case of the January guilts that so often goes with it.

1. Follow your normal nutritional plan as closely as possible. How many times do you find yourself during the holidays eating pasteries or a large meal for breakfast, fast food burgers and fries for lunch while shopping and then going to a holiday buffet party or nice resturaunt dinner with family in the evening? If you’re eating above and beyond your normal calorie intake at every meal during the holidays, those calories will add up and show up on your waist, hips and thighs in a hurry. The better option is to eat as normally as possible.

2. If you’re going to splurge, make darn sure it’s worth the calories. Some foods trigger fond memories and the holidays just wouldn’t be the same without them. If it’s just not Christmas without a slice of Grandma’s pumpkin pie and a scoop of home made whipped cream, then go ahead and eat it. But don’t have two helpings of Aunt Martha’s mashed potatoes and gravy as well. Plan your daily calories around your splurge and compensate by eating lightly the rest of the day, then eat that piece of pie and enjoy it to the max!

3. Don’t skip meals. This is a huge mistake! Skipping meals not only causes you to be absolutely ravenous and more likely to overeat when you finally do sit down at the table to eat, but it also causes your body to go into starvation mode and causes your metabolism to slow down. If your body is in starvation mode when you sit down to your holiday meal, many of those calories will be stored as fat.

The suggestions above are only a few eating strategies for the holidays. The most important thing is to find an eating strategy that works for you and stick to it like glue. Developing good eating strategies for the holidays can help you enjoy the holiday season more and avoid holiday weight gain.