Navigate the Holidays Without Gaining Weight: Your Naughty & Nice List

**Jim Hill:** Welcome to Weight Loss And, where we delve into the world of weight loss. I'm Jim Hill.

**Holly Wyatt:** And I'm Holly Wyatt. We're both dedicated to helping you lose weight, keep it off, and live your best life while you're doing it.

**Jim Hill:** Indeed, we now realize successful weight loss combines the science and art of medicine, knowing what to do and why you will do it.

**Holly Wyatt:** Yes, the “And” allows us to talk about all the other stuff that makes your journey so much bigger, better, and exciting.

**Jim Hill:** Ready for the “And” factor?

**Holly Wyatt:** Let's dive in.

**Jim Hill:** Here we go. Today's episode is one that everyone navigating the holiday season will want to tune into. We're diving into a topic that really matters this time of year, preventing that sneaky holiday weight gain. Holly, the holidays can be a challenging time for anyone trying to stay on track, right?

**Holly Wyatt:** Absolutely. That's what everybody says. This time of year, those pounds can definitely sneak on. So for anyone focused on their weight or health goals, the holiday season, you know, I think it feels almost like an obstacle course. There's family dinners, there's parties, there's tempting treats everywhere, but it doesn't have to be. You don't have to gain weight. And we're going to talk about that today. You can enjoy the season. You can feel great. You can keep your goals in check. And it's not going to be just about restriction. You can find ways to stay mindful and still have fun over the holidays.

**Jim Hill:** Exactly, Holly. This episode is all about balance. You know I love balance. We're breaking down some of the biggest holiday pitfalls and showing you how to make it through the season feeling empowered, not deprived. We're calling it our naughty or nice list, a playful way to look at holiday habits that either support your goals or might throw you off track.

**Holly Wyatt:** And that's what makes this list fun. It's not about really labeling things good or bad. I know we're calling it naughty or nice, but that's just to have fun. It's really about bringing awareness to what you're choosing and making it work for you. Because when you're aware, those small intentional decisions you make will help you feel in control and you don't have to feel restricted or like you're missing out. So we're going to talk about awareness and things that might be on the naughty list or might be on the nice list.

**Jim Hill:** Yeah, I love that this episode is packed with real life practical tips. We love those - strategies that are simple to implement, but powerful enough to keep you on track. If you're someone who wants to feel satisfied, enjoy every moment of the holidays and still stay in control, then this episode is for you.

**Holly Wyatt:** Exactly. We have some very clear go-to strategies that you're going to be able to start to use right now and will help you not gain weight if that's not what you want. And also be able to celebrate and have some joy this season. So if you're ready to stay on track, feel empowered, and start this new year strong, let's jump right in.

**Jim Hill:** All right, let's do it. So maybe, Holly, start with the question, how much weight do people gain over the holidays?

**Holly Wyatt:** And they've studied this. There have been studies that have actually looked at this. I know you see all kinds of numbers thrown around. I think, though, if you look on average, when they've done the studies, it's about one to two pounds between mid-November and New Year's. And while that doesn't seem like a huge amount, it can add up over the years. If you gain two pounds every single year for five years and you don't lose it, now you're up 10 pounds.

**Jim Hill:** Yeah, I've seen all kinds of numbers out there. Some numbers are really high, people gaining five and six pounds. And again, I think what we can say is that it's a time when a lot of people do gain weight. And we're going to talk about maybe why that is. For most people, it's not a lot, but it may be that one or two pounds that go on and don't come off.

**Holly Wyatt:** Right. But I will also say that I've seen people, and myself, I have gained more than that. So there are people who gain five or 10 pounds during the holidays. You know, the average is the average. And if you fall in that average, that means something to you. But if you don't, if you're one of those people that you can look back and say, you know what, I gained five pounds or I gained eight pounds and I start the new year, you know, significantly heavier than I was in November, then it doesn't really matter what the average was. You know, you have that tendency to put on that much weight during the holidays. And so you can, if you know that, then these strategies, things we're going to talk about could even be more important for you. So, Jim, why do you think people tend to gain weight over the holidays? We know there is a trend. Maybe it's a little bit, maybe it's a lot. But why do we, we're in a positive energy balance. Why is that true?

**Jim Hill:** Great question, Holly. I can come up with several reasons that I think contribute. Probably the obvious one is there's food everywhere. It's good food. You have candy and cookies. I mean, holidays are a time that we want to show love through food. And unfortunately, too often, food is there all day long. There's always something good to eat. And so you walk by There's a candy dish and freshly baked cookies and a pumpkin pie. And, you know, people do this because they want to share love with their families and friends. And to do that, you come up with, I mean, you don't put out broccoli to say, hey, it's Thanksgiving. Let's share our broccoli.

**Holly Wyatt:** Jim, I do.

**Jim Hill:** I know, Holly, but you're weird. In most places, it's candy and cookies and those kinds of things. And you know what? We end up eating even if we're not hungry. It's there. It smells good. We see other people eating. Mindfulness, you're sitting there with the candy bowl and talking and not even thinking about it. So that's one reason.

**Holly Wyatt:** Well, and I think also that I think what you're saying is I might put out broccoli or vegetables, but most of the time the food is very energy-dense, meaning small amount of food, large amount of calories. Combine that with a lot of food around. Combine that with all the increased social eating, all the parties and family gatherings and all of that, that kind of puts you into this situation where it is more likely to increase your calories. And then I want to bring up what you think about alcohol. We haven't talked a lot about alcohol on this show yet, but this time of year-

**Jim Hill:** We probably should because people get a lot of calories from alcohol. There are a couple of things about alcohol. People forget about alcohol when they're thinking about their diet. They oftentimes forget about alcohol. The other thing, and we could talk about this at some point, there seems to be a difference between calories coming in as beverages and calories coming in as food. They seem to be regulated differently by the body. We've seen that, Holly, where we know people that are wonderful at managing their food intake, but where they get into trouble is with alcohol consumption. And holidays are a wonderful time for that. You see, you know, there's different wine around and beverages and other people are mixing drinks and it's easy just to socially get in that mindset of doing what everybody else is doing.

**Holly Wyatt:** Yeah. So it's liquid calories and the alcohol itself. I think it's a little bit more energy-dense, right? Seven calories per gram, you know, compared to carb and protein, which is four calories per gram.

**Jim Hill:** It's more energy-dense than carbs, not quite as much as fat, but somewhere in between. So you can take in a lot of calories from alcohol. And at the end of the day, we could go into this in detail. Alcohol kind of acts like fat, like extra fat for your body for various reasons. You burn the alcohol and don't burn the fat. But bottom line here is you have to be careful with overdoing it with alcohol.

**Holly Wyatt:** Well, and then when I drink alcohol, then I kind of want more food. Then I'm looking for the chips. I'm like, oh, I just had a margarita. Where are the chips? And my willpower or maybe my plans for what I'd planned to kind of consume that night, kind of go out the window. So it kind of has a double whammy, I think. And then, Jim, we can't leave this topic without talking a little bit about stress, because while we talk about joy and love in the holidays, it is stressful for a lot of people. And that, I think, also can play a role why people tend to gain weight.

**Jim Hill:** It is. I'll have to say, for me, the holidays aren't stressful. They're wonderful. But there are people that kind of feel overwhelmed with the holidays. They have to do the decorations. They have to do the food. They have to plan everything. And, you know, at the end of the day, it can really add up to a lot of stress. And what a lot of people do when they're stressed, is they eat.

**Holly Wyatt:** Eat. Yes. I think we should ask Trish. I bet Trish is the one doing all the stuff, and that's why she's the stressed one, and you are just sitting back.

**Jim Hill:** There's some truth to that, but I don't think we need to explore that anymore. Let's move forward.

**Holly Wyatt:** I think we should get Trish on the podcast. That would be good.

**Jim Hill:** Please.

**Holly Wyatt:** I just thought about that. I'm writing that down. Oh, and then I had one more on my list, a little bit. Sleep.

**Jim Hill:** Yeah.

**Holly Wyatt:** Your sleep habits, I think, change during this time of year, too.

**Jim Hill:** It's not just one of these sort of the perfect storm of several things. There's great-tasting food available. These are sometimes foods, not all the time foods. They're available. You're stressed out. Everybody else is doing it and you didn't sleep as well like it's the perfect storm for overeating.

**Holly Wyatt:** Yeah I have to tell one quick story so you all know chips are my thing. On the holidays one time, I was not going to get any chips. I go into the store and there are pumpkin tortilla chips. I'm like I have to have them, right? You're talking about one-time chips. It's like I feel like I'm going to miss out so there's all these things you kind of feel like you're missing out. You're going to have it one time. You want to experience it. So yeah, lots of reasons why you could be in a positive energy balance. Lots of reasons why you have the tendency to put on some pounds.

**Jim Hill:** Okay. So we want people to be aware of this. What do you do about it? Let's get practical. Okay. People know this. There's going to be food around. They're going to be stressed. They're not going to sleep as well. They're going to drink some alcohol. What can you do to limit the damage?

**Holly Wyatt:** Yeah. So I thought to have fun, we could do first kind of a naughty list, just kind of being playful with this and just thinking about some holiday habits that people tend to do that actually lead you to go to the few extra pounds. Then we can follow with a nice list, which could be traditions or habits, things you could do that could maybe lead you toward the prevention of weight gain. But let's start with the naughty. So holiday mistakes that we often see.

**Jim Hill:** Ooh, well, I think one is people sort of say, all right, I'm going to not weigh myself during this period. I know, look, I may gain some weight. I'm not going to keep track of what I eat because it's not going to be good. I'm just going to suspend that during the holiday season. I'm going to put my head in the sand and just not worry about it. And part of the problem there is if you don't worry about it, it may go in a bad direction. You have to get on that scale even though you might see that it's upper pounded too, that's useful information. Doesn't mean you're a terrible person. Doesn't mean you should get all depressed or discouraged. It's a little bit of an early warning system.

**Holly Wyatt:** Yes. I see this all the time. People who weigh themselves during the year suddenly say, not going to weigh in November and December. And I'm like, ooh, man, just get on the scale, get the data. We know that just logging and even getting on the scale daily can impact your behavior. And it's not about beating yourself up, but it's about having knowledge. It's about being aware what's going on. I mean, do you want it to be a surprise at the end? Oh, let's see, you know, where it's going. I know that I am going to the obesity meetings and I just packed a travel scale because this time of year, especially, I want to have that data every single day. And I don't want to get in the habit of saying I don't need it. I don't want it. It's part of something I do. So even when I travel, I bring a scale. And I think that's a critical piece. So I agree. Avoiding the scale, avoiding if they log. Ooh, I think that's leaning you to gaining a few more pounds.

**Jim Hill:** So get on that scale, keep logging. Don't put your head in the sand.

**Holly Wyatt:** Yeah. And it's just data. I just think of it as data. And the more data I can have, the better. Now I got number two, because you're going to like this one, but this is on the naughty list is they tend to put their activity or exercise, whatever you want to call it on hold. They may have a regular exercise routine and they decide it goes out the window when it comes to the holidays. What do you think about that, Jim? We know what that's going to do.

**Jim Hill:** Well, you know, we talk over and over about balance. And in fact, Holly, I'm very susceptible to the food that's available and everything. But what I always do is I actually ramp up my exercise during this period, because it is balance. And giving into the exercise is as bad as overindulging and all the good stuff. It just sets you up for this extra weight gain. Keep doing what you're doing. You don't have to ramp it up like I do. I like to do that. I'm big on exercise, but just keep doing what you're doing. And we've talked before about exercise burns calories, but also keeps your metabolism flexible. So if you do overeat on those goodies, it helps minimize the damage.

**Holly Wyatt:** Yeah. And stress, it helps with stress. So, so many other, you know, this time of year, people say, okay, I'm not going to exercise that. They put that on the back burner, they put it on hold and it has an impact not only on their metabolism but on their stress, just on everything. If anything, keep that, keep that on the list, let something else go, but don't let that exercise go.

**Jim Hill:** Okay, Holly, number three is a good one. Not having a plan or goals for the holiday. So let's face it, November and December can be a tough time, and you need to go into it with the plan. You don't go into it saying, ah, here comes Thanksgiving and Christmas. I hope it all works out. That ain't going to work. You got to have a plan. Do you know that you're going to be going to parties and have a lot of goodies and buffets? Do you know that you're going to have family events with good food around? Do you know that you're going to have time with family and friends that may limit when you usually exercise? Have a plan for dealing with it.

**Holly Wyatt:** Yeah. I say having no plan, when you have no plan, when you just wing it, is really having a plan to gain some weight.

**Jim Hill:** Yup.

**Holly Wyatt:** That's what the plan is, right? You're planning on gaining a few pounds. So just recognize that. It's no plan equals plan for weight gain. All right. Number four on the naughty list, making the season all about food. And I think food's good and we're going to, it's partly about food, but I know people, I see where every single thing they do is about what they're going to eat, that it's the only focus. And I think that's hard. If everything revolves around food, if you have no other, you know, things that you're doing and family events and you haven't made it more than just about the food, that can be really difficult. So I think people that it's just about the food, that can lead you down that path of gaining one, two, three, five pounds in the new year.

**Jim Hill:** Yeah, I think people can be creative and, you know, orienting family activities and friends group around things other than food. And it'd be fun to hear from some of our listeners about maybe how they've done that. How have you made the holidays about more than food? Do you have a game sessions together or activities together? It doesn't have to be all about food. So be creative.

**Holly Wyatt:** Yeah. And I think when we get down to the nice list, I think we got a few things that might help people out with that one. But be strategic. Think about what do I do during November and December that doesn't revolve around food.

**Jim Hill:** Okay, here's a good one, and we see this all the time. I'm not going to worry about it. I'll fix it after the new year. January 1st, my resolution is going to be to fix it all. This rarely works. Just saying, I'm going to go through what I go through and gain the weight, and I'll fix it on January 1st. Boy, it puts you behind the eight ball. It's much better if you go into it with a plan so that on January 1st, it's fine to have New Year's resolutions, but you're not worried about fixing the damage. You're working about going forward with your plan for the year.

**Holly Wyatt:** I think when you have this mindset, I'll just fix it on January 1st, then you just kind to throw up your hands and you do nothing, you just feel like you're going to just fix everything. And that can lead to a big weight gain. And then you may or may not fix it on January 1st. So I would much rather start the new year with what do I want to accomplish that's new than trying to undo things that I did in November and December.

**Jim Hill:** Yeah. Unfortunately, a lot of people aren't able to fix sit on January 1st and they never, never get off those extra pounds.

**Holly Wyatt:** Yeah. So the next one, clinging to old traditions that don't fit them anymore. You know, sometimes I'll talk to my State of Slimmers that have had a complete transformation in their life. They're living a different life and then they come back and they don't change some of their holiday routines. They go back to the old routines that was kind of around their old lifestyle in their old life. And while some of those might fit, chances are you can also change some of those. And so if you're new and you're living a different way and you've had a new identity, then clinging to old traditions, not creating new ones, I think then also tends to put you in that weight gain path.

**Jim Hill:** Yeah. And again, this idea of be creative about new traditions. It's a time to, I love traditions, but they don't always have to be around food.

**Holly Wyatt:** And you can make new ones, right? Why do you have to stick to exactly what you've done? Some of them you may want to, but you don't have to completely stick to every single one of it. It doesn't fit you anymore. Let it go.

**Jim Hill:** All right. Number seven. That's a good one. Keeping leftovers. You go to a party, you take some really tasty food or snack to a party, and at the end of the night, you say, I'll take it home and have it tomorrow. Maybe, and I know there are people that are going to be saying, oh, you shouldn't waste food, but it's okay to not keep some of those leftovers if they're these sometimes foods, foods that you don't want to eat on a regular basis because they just tempt you to keep snacking and this can add up.

**Holly Wyatt:** Yeah, I would say enjoy the food, but you don't need to take it home. And that's just one of the rules I live by this time of year because your tendency is to want to take everything home and then, oh my goodness, I'm going to be tempted by it continually. So if I can just say, okay, I'm going to enjoy it, fully enjoy it, but I don't need to bring leftovers home. The leftovers don't serve me well. I think people sometimes think, oh, I have to bring them home. No, you don't. You don't have to bring them home. Come on. Let's be honest about this. All right. Next one. Mindless eating. I see this time of year. Even if there's foods they don't really like, they eat them. They're just grabbing food because it's there. They don't really taste it. They, you know, they're not really picky about what they're eating. They just eat everything, you know. Oh, I don't really like fruitcake, but I ate it anyway, you know. And so I think having this idea that I just eat anything that's there and not being mindful, being mindless about it is something that leads to weight gain.

**Jim Hill:** I agree with you. Pay attention. We talk about mindset as being important. And that also plays into the next one, Holly, which is feeling like you're powerless. It's like, oh, this is a holiday season. There's nothing I can do. I'm just going to have to get through it. Your mindset has to be paying attention to what you eat. And guess what? You are powerful. You have the ability, believe it or not, to not gain weight during the holidays With a little planning and a little strategy and the right kind of mindset, you don't have to gain weight during the holidays.

**Holly Wyatt:** You do have a choice. And a lot of people pretend or believe they don't. You do have a choice, which is thank goodness, I always say. And last one on the naughty list is you start to neglect self-care. And that's where that sleep comes in. That's where you don't do some of the things that you need to stay healthy, that self-care aspect. So neglecting self-care this time of year can definitely lead you to that weight gain.

**Jim Hill:** Wow. 10 naughty behaviors. And again, we want you to be aware of these. Now we're going to turn to say, okay, what are some of the nice behaviors? What are some of the things you can do to counter these to help avoid the weight gain during the holidays?

**Holly Wyatt:** And just to hammer home, guys, we're having fun with the naughty and nice.

**Jim Hill:** Yeah, well, this is fun.

**Holly Wyatt:** You know, nothing is naughty, but just the things that tend to lead to one direction versus what you could choose that could help prevent that weight gain. So holiday wins. Nice list. Now I feel good. I like talking about the things that people can do. So the first thing on the list is to prioritize activity. Just like you said, Jim, I say, can I do more? Not can I do less and be strategic and creative. And it's not necessarily if I can't get to the gym for my about how many 10-minute little bouts of exercise can I get in? What can I do to keep my activity high? How can I make that a big priority? That is huge. I love that it's number one because I think if you keep the activity high, the odds of you not gaining weight are also high. I think it really helps prevent you from gaining weight.

**Jim Hill:** Yeah, you and I always talk about balance. It's not just the food you eat, it's the food you eat in relation to the energy you expend. And so literally being physically active during the holidays, I think is one of the best strategies I liked. I got to tell you, I enjoy having some of these foods around and everything. And I always feel okay. As long as I'm getting my physical activity, I feel like I'm doing a lot to counter some of the negatives on the food side.

**Holly Wyatt:** Yeah, to me, that's the most important. It's both about burning the calories. It's also about that metabolic flexibility that we talk about so much. It's a stress reduction. It's just, there's so much it does. It is such a big bang for your buck that if I had to say, do one of the things on the nice list, it would be the one thing I would say do for sure.

**Jim Hill:** I agree. I think it's really going to help limit any damage from overeating. All right. Number two, daily weigh-ins. Get on the scale every day. It's data. The scale does not run your life. It has no emotional control over you. get on the scale. If you're gaining weight, at least you know it. It's information. That information is going to help you. It's going to keep you aware of what's going on.

**Holly Wyatt:** And the more you get on the scale, the easier it is to get on the scale, the more it is just a data point. Oh, it's creeping up. It's not going to be any big surprises at the end. And to me, this is also a really important one if you want to prevent the weight gain. Third one on my list, on the nice list I put down is, oh, plan to maintain. So we kind of talked about this, you know, no one plans to gain. No, I'm planning to gain weight. And I don't usually recommend planning to lose weight. I think it's a hard time of year to actually try to lose weight, which we know weight loss requires food restriction. So it's a hard time to restrict calories. You can do it, but you can plan to maintain. And remember, we talk about weight loss maintenance is different than weight loss. And like we said before, if you plan nothing, what are you planning? You're planning to gain. So you get to choose. You can plan to gain by not making a plan, or you can actually make a plan to maintain.

**Jim Hill:** I love that. Don't say, okay, November, December, I'm going to go in and lose 20 pounds. I mean, come on, enjoy the holidays. And this is important. It's such a wonderful time. I really enjoy November and December. And a lot of the naughty stuff, quite frankly, I enjoy. But the goal here is maintain. If you can simply maintain in November, December, you're ahead of the game.

**Holly Wyatt:** Yeah, but you got to plan for it. And what I mean by plan, keep your activity high, right? Weigh yourself, you know, have a plan for what weight loss maintenance means for you.

**Jim Hill:** Yes. Another nice thing to do, is focus on fun over food. And again, we've talked about this before. The holidays don't have to be totally about food. Unfortunately, I think too often we make it so food-focused. But shift to other activities. Look at strengthening social connections, time with friends, family, traditions beyond food, family walks, a walk before a big Thanksgiving dinner or afterwards. This really helps in curbing overeating and encouraging mindful choices.

**Holly Wyatt:** Yeah. And maybe you don't want to do fun over food. Maybe that fun and food at least so that you're not just concentrating on the food. There's those that every single event they do is all about the food. Well, can we mix in some other stuff that could be fun too? So fun just isn't about the food. All right. Oh, another one of my favorites. So over the holiday season, I become a food snob, be a holiday food snob. So during this time of year, I only eat the things that are the very best. I'm not just eating something because it's there. I'm really working on getting the very best food that I really like, what I truly enjoy. And I skip the treats that don't satisfy me. It's like, no, that's not, that's not the best chocolate chip cookie. I'm not going to have that one. I know the chocolate chip cookie I want. I know this, you know, the holiday treat I want. And I get excited about it and I become a little bit of a food snob and savor the ones I really, really want. I can see this one doesn't resonate with you, Jim. You're like, ah, no, I just, what are you thinking?

**Jim Hill:** Well, you know, again, here's the thing. Not all these are going to fit with everybody, right?

**Holly Wyatt:** True, true.

**Jim Hill:** You have to choose the ones that fit for you. And again, you know, this one's not one that's easy for me to do. And I feel like I'm doing some other stuff. I don't have to do every single one. I guess that's it.

**Holly Wyatt:** Yeah, yeah.

**Jim Hill:** But I do like the next one, Holly.

**Holly Wyatt:** Okay.

**Jim Hill:** Create new traditions. And again, we've talked about that. Start a new tradition. Traditions are wonderful. I just, I'm so much a fan of traditions. And most of the traditions involve food. But think about some other traditions that don't. Are there family activities that every year, I don't know, when we were kids, we would do a touch football game around the holidays, things like that. And I bet you, if you put out the challenge to your family members to come up with some creative ways to do it, I bet they would. And then make these traditions so that you do it every year.

**Holly Wyatt:** Yeah. One of our State of Slimmers was talking about, they have added a gratitude family walk. So they actually go on a short walk before their meal, or maybe it was after their meal, I can't remember. And they each talk about something they're grateful for as they're walking and then either come back or maybe it's after the meal. So you can add traditions like that.

**Jim Hill:** I love that. I'm going to do that this year. I think that's a great tradition. I love it.

**Holly Wyatt:** All right. Number seven on the nice list, is smart food swaps. So during this time of year, there may be some foods that you can swap that you wouldn't even know that you missed, right? So substitute some lower-calorie foods for some of your higher-calorie foods. Like some people want to add some cauliflower, mashed cauliflower into their mashed potatoes. They may make them half and half. Now, you may say, oh, no, no, no, I have to have these, my, you know, holiday mashed potatoes. That's fine. But there may be other things where it doesn't matter to you. And you can make some really strategic smart food swaps, like maybe adding some seltzer, you know, to one of your drinks so that you're decreasing the energy or the calorie content on that. Being smarter about that and trying to see where could I add some foods and not even know, not even realize that I've cut the calories out.

**Jim Hill:** Okay. Number eight, Holly, is have a go-to healthy holiday meal. One nutritious meal option that's available so you're always prepared when you need a good healthy meal. So rather than suddenly have to say, oh my God, what do I do? Have one ready and say, this is my go-to. You know, one of the things I like from our State of Slim is the pumpkin chili. I think that is so tasty. We've served that at dinner parties and it's a great healthy go-to meal. So have one healthy meal in your pocket.

**Holly Wyatt:** Well, I love that you brought up the chili because the other thing, it actually goes with that swap. The reason why that chili is so good is that pumpkin gives a mouthfeel of fat, but you can use very lean meat in it. And, you know, chili is kind of a, you want it kind of a fatty, you know, it's kind of a fatty dish. And so that's an idea of adding pumpkin was a way to swap out some of the calories from regular chili. But I also, if it's really great, this is a go-to, it's a holiday meal. We talk about go-to meals all the time. I say have a special go-to meal for the holidays, something that you make during the holidays that's healthy. You can make it several times. People see it as part of the holidays, but we also know it tends to be toward the healthier side, not as much toward the indulgent side of the food. So a little bit less calories, maybe a little bit less fat, but still feels great and is easy, that go-to. Let me let's just pull out that go-to healthy meal when we're stuck for time or something like that.

All right number nine the no leftover rule. So that kind of goes this is like the opposite of that one that we saw on the naughty list. The people who bring home all the leftovers on the nice list is you have this rule like I have I'm, not going to bring home leftovers. I'm not going to allow someone to feel like they're trying to force me to bring home leftovers. And that's just going to be a rule. There will be plenty of food for me I feel like there's plenty of food over the holidays, and I want to experience it, but I do not need to bring home leftovers. It's just added temptation and just helps me not gain the weight over this period of time.

**Jim Hill:** Yeah, good rule. Last one, number 10, and I know we're hitting movement a lot, but combine food and movement. So taking a walk before or after a big Thanksgiving dinner or Christmas dinner or planning active get-togethers where you might have food, but you also have movement. So again, we're about balance. It's on the food side and the exercise side.

So we've given them, Holly, 10 naughty behaviors and 10 nice behaviors. And again, we did it to have fun. We're not expecting you to take every one, but pick out ones that work for you because the goal is getting through November, December, keeping the same weight you started with. That is huge success. Then you don't have to go to January 1st and say, how do I get rid of all this extra weight?

**Holly Wyatt:** Yeah, I agree. Pick and choose what fits best for you, but be aware. Be aware of some of the things you're doing and that you do have a choice and you get to choose which of these two lists that you want to experience, basically. Do we have time for a couple of listener questions, Jim?

**Jim Hill:** Sure, let's do it.

**Holly Wyatt:** All right. The first one, how can I handle family members who insist on me trying everything they've made, especially when they put so much effort into the meal?

**Jim Hill:** Ooh.

**Holly Wyatt:** We hear that a lot, right?

**Jim Hill:** We do. So what do you do, Holly?

**Holly Wyatt:** Yeah, it's a hard one. I usually, it depends, but, you know, if it's a special meal, I will eat some of it. I just taste it. It is a tasting. You know, I don't have to eat the whole portion. And I also explain to them why. That I love this, but that I'm not going to eat three plates of it. That I want to taste it. Why this is important to me. And then ultimately, I have to stand for what's best for me. But I do try to have a conversation with them about it. What do you do, Jim?

**Jim Hill:** Same way is, again, a little bit of it. You want to respect people, people that come in with their famous recipes. And, oh, my gosh, you've got to try this. And we have it every year. Do a little bit of it. And, you know, you can tell people. It's okay to tell people to say, wow, I really like this. But you know what? I really manage my weight. So I'm going to eat just a little bit of it.

**Holly Wyatt:** Yeah. And I tell them, you know, I talk about my weight as a disease, you know, and that there are certain ways that I need to treat my disease, that I need to do things for my health that is different than other people. And just make sure they're aware that to start thinking of it that way, too. It's not about not wanting to eat what they provided. It really is part of my health and what I need to be healthy and to feel good about myself.

**Jim Hill:** All right. I still have one more, but I want you to answer because I want to know the answer.

**Holly Wyatt:** Uh-oh.

**Jim Hill:** Do you have any advice on managing stress eating with all the holiday pressures and events happening?

**Holly Wyatt:** Yeah. So to me, stress eating can happen any time of year, more likely maybe to happen during the holidays. And I think the first thing is you got to be aware that you're doing it. If you're not aware, you can't make a choice, but if you catch yourself, I'm feeling stressed and I'm going for comfort food or I'm going for certain food to try to alleviate that stress, that's the first step. I'm aware of what's going on. And then when I'm aware, I have two or three other options that have already thought out. And sometimes they work and sometimes they don't. It depends on how stressed I am. But I know that I'm aware and I call it stretch it out, meaning I stretch out the time from when I feel the stress to taking action, which would be eating, stretch that response out and is there something else I could do instead? So for me, it may be 10-minute walk. Can I even just go for a 10-minute walk? That can allow it to pass through. Bubble bath or something else. Can I distract myself with some other behavior just to get through that point? But awareness is the first key. And then having a couple other options instead of food is how I would start to tackle that. Let's end with some vulnerability questions. Do you want to go first? Do you want me to ask you one?

**Jim Hill:** You can ask me one.

**Holly Wyatt:** Okay. Is there a piece of holiday advice you find especially hard to follow yourself? Well, you've already said you don't follow at all.

**Jim Hill:** Well, I am good on the exercise. I will get my exercise. I will increase my exercise. I'm 100% confident that I will do that. But you know what? I'm going to overindulge in those good treats. I'm going to probably eat more than I should. I love the baked goods, the pies, the cakes. I will eat more than I like. And quite frankly, I'll probably consume more alcohol than I usually do. So I feel like for me, I want to ramp up that exercise. And overall, my hope is to get through November, December at the same weight I started with. So what about you, Holly? What holiday food or tradition is your biggest temptation? And how do you keep it in check?

**Holly Wyatt:** Yeah, for me, it's definitely the food. I want to try everything. I'm not so much on the sweets, but I love all kinds of appetizers. I want to go to a party and I want to try all the appetizers. And I do want to have some margaritas or some kind of alcoholic beverage at this time of year. It feels festive. So I'm just super aware of that. And some of the tips on the nice list is what I do. No leftovers, you know, that type of thing. I do keep my activity high and I do make smart food swaps. So I do really try to go in there and think about where I don't care. And if I can make a swap, that doesn't matter. And also then I'm a food snob. Like I said, I'm a food snob. So it's got, I want it, but it's got, if I taste something and it's not, not the highest level, I don't eat it. I'm like, oh, nope, I'm going to wait. I'm going to, I'm going to eat something else. So that's kind of how I deal with it.

**Jim Hill:** Okay, well, hopefully, this has been a fun episode where we've talked about some naughty and nice tips. Here's the thing. Enjoy the holidays. It's such a wonderful time. I really enjoy Thanksgiving and Christmas, being with friends. I enjoy having lots of good food around. But try to do some things that keep you from gaining weight. And there are some tips you can do. You can still enjoy food. Get your activity. Enjoy time with friends and family. So enjoy it, but just use some simple strategies to avoid putting on those few pounds that people often put on over the holidays.

**Holly Wyatt:** Like it. Should we give them a little sneak peek about what I'm hoping we're going to do next week?

**Jim Hill:** Oh.

**Holly Wyatt:** Our show that's coming.

**Jim Hill:** Go for it.

**Holly Wyatt:** Yes. So I think next week, what Jim and I want to do is do our podcast on our holiday gift list. What are some gifts that kind of fit with what we talk about health and wellness and maintaining or losing weight? Kind of some healthy gifts that you could give yourself or you could give other people. And then also couple that with some specific new holiday traditions. Some of the best ones that I've heard. I think we gave one or two out today, but I think we can come up with some more if you are interested in adding a new tradition, these could be some examples that you could try.

**Jim Hill:** Yeah, something to look forward to. So thanks, everybody. And we'll talk to you next time on Weight Loss And.

**Holly Wyatt:** Bye, everybody.

**Jim Hill:** And that's a wrap for today's episode of Weight Loss and. We hope you enjoy diving into the world of weight loss with us.

**Holly Wyatt:** If you want to stay connected and continue exploring the “Ands” of weight loss, be sure to follow our podcast on your favorite platform.

**Jim Hill:** We'd also love to hear from you. Share your thoughts, questions, or topic suggestions by reaching out at [weightlossand.com](http://weightlossand.com/). Your feedback helps us tailor future episodes to your needs.

**Holly Wyatt:** And remember, the journey doesn't end here. Keep applying the knowledge and strategies you've learned and embrace the power of the “And” in your own weight loss journey.