We believe our Simple 9^© nutritional program truly offers the best plan to make lasting changes to your health. The habits we teach will help anyone reach their weight loss goals, feel better, and have more energy.

But the holidays are a little tougher. There are so many temptations and cues enticing you to make the wrong choices every time you turn around. With only a couple of weeks left in the holiday season, I want to share a few of my favorite tips to help you survive without putting on that four to five extra pounds.

Avoid Eating Out

The number of people with whom we eat can have a big impact on the amount of food we eat. Eating with just one other person can increase the average size of a meal by as much as 44%. Eating in restaurants where there are more than 17 people present will cause the average person to consume 400 more calories. Something in our DNA prompts us to eat more when we are in large groups. As often as possible, enjoy your meals at home with your family. Take your lunch to work and eat by yourself or with a few co-workers.

Enjoy Your Food

Believe it or not, we don’t stop eating when our stomach is full. Scientists don’t really understand what makes us stop eating. Feeling satisfied during a meal seems to be a combination of how much we chew, how much we taste, how much we swallow, how much we think about the food, and how long we’ve been eating. What we do know, however, is the faster we wolf food down, the more we eat, because the right combination of cues doesn’t get a chance to tell us we’re no longer hungry. Studies show it takes up to 20 minutes for your body and brain to receive the signal you are satisfied with your meal. Most Americans start, finish and clear the table in less than 20 minutes. Slow down and appreciate the food you’re eating and the people you’re eating with.

Clean Your Plate

Most of us decide how much food we want to eat before we put it in our mouths. We eyeball how much food we think we want, put it on our plate, and eat until it’s gone. Use your plate as a guide to show you how much you’ve eaten. Create a plate with meat, vegetables, and maybe some fruit, then eat until it’s all gone. Don’t go back for seconds, and don’t eat from the container.

Let Your Clothes Be Your Guide

Getting to the right size is more important than getting to a number on the scale. Most people have a favorite pair of jeans they would like to wear comfortably. Getting into those jeans is more important than reaching a number on the scale. When you start strength training, you build muscle. Muscle is denser than fat, so after a few months of training, you could be struggling to keep your pants up but still weigh the same.

Brush Your Teeth Right After Dinner

As simple as this sounds, it works. The food you eat before bed is most likely responsible for the extra pounds you see on the scale in the morning. One of the best things you can do to lose weight is to eat your last meal no later than three hours before bed. No late night snacking. If you brush your teeth right after dinner, it creates a signal that you’re done eating for the night. Also, use a very minty toothpaste, so if you do eat something, it won’t taste good.

Make Eating Processed Foods A Hassle

The more difficult it is to get food, the less you will eat. A recent study found the average secretary will eat nine Hershey’s kisses (198 kcal) a day if they are sitting in a bowl on her or his desk. Put the bowl out of sight in a desk drawer, and the secretary will only eat six Hershey’s kisses (132 kcal) a day. Put the bowl on a file cabinet six feet away, and the secretary will only eat four Hershey’s kisses (88 kcal) a day. Having the bowl of kisses on the desk meant 100 extra calories a day, or 7 extra pounds in a year. Keep processed foods out of sight and out of mouth.

Make Eating Simple Foods Easy

Make the foods you need to eat easily accessible. Keep a bowl of fruit on your counter so you’ll make the right choice when you need a snack. Keep packets of nuts or jerky in the car and you’ll drive right past the fast food restaurants. And, of course, keep ice cold water with you at all times. The military is always trying to get soldiers to drink more water so they will stay hydrated. A recent study found that soldiers drank almost twice as much water when pitchers were put on each dining table than when they were put on a side table. Do what it takes to make it easy to eat simple.

Hopefully you and your family are enjoying the holiday season. Make sure you do everything you can to stick to our Simple 9^© plan. Don’t forget about the 80/20 rule. Get outside and walk all you can. Oh, and don’t miss your 20 Minutes A Week in the gym. If you’ve got all of that in place, use the simple tricks mentioned above to keep you on track.

Merry Christmas,

Bo Railey