It's not unheard of for folks to gain weight over the holidays. In fact, it's probably the norm for most people. Then once the holidays are over, you're stuck with the extra few pounds that you packed on during those huge holiday feasts. Some people are lucky in the sense that once they go back to their normal eating habits, they find the weight comes off by itself, but others aren't so lucky.

Americans gain an average of 7 pounds between the Thanksgiving and New Years holidays. That basically means people consume an extra 24,500 calories during that time. Remember, 3,500 calories is equal to approximately one pound. All of the frustration and worry of holiday weight gain can be avoided by following a few tricks.

Avoid Alcoholic Beverages

The best thing you can do is avoid them, but if that isn't possible, then seriously consider one or drinks on occasion. These drinks give you an extra 150 calories on average per drink, with the sugary sweet drinks often resulting in many more. To help prevent drinking in excess, drink alcoholic beverages slowly. Another thing about drinking alcoholic beverages is that they usually end up causing cravings for bad food, namely fried foods and junk foods.

Eat Before You Eat

Okay, so you might be thinking, "Well won't that just add more calories then? I thought I should be eating less." I'm not saying you should eat a complete meal, but consider eating a small snack before you leave for that big holiday dinner. An apple would be a great choice and even a glass of water is better than nothing. They will help to prevent you feeling like you're starving prior to the meal and then you'll actually end up eating less at dinner.

Control Food Portions

Just because you want to avoid weight gain, doesn't mean you have to skip all the good stuff that may be on tap for dessert. Control your portion sizes. Sample many of the food items available and try to make the healthiest choices you can. A great idea would be to use a small plate if you can. Who says you have to use a dinner sized plate? A salad plate will work just dandy.

When All Else Fails, Work Out More

If you've done your best but still went a bit overboard with food and/or alcohol consumption, get back on track by working out more to burn off those excess calories. Put in a few rigorous workouts for a couple weeks and you'll be back to your normal self in no time.

The biggest thing to remember is to not beat yourself up over weight gain. All you need to do is realize that you've made some bad choices and then work to correct them.