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It’s time for The Bracebridge Dinners at Yosemite National Park. A tradition for over 90 years, the theatrical dining event features a seven-course meal.

If you survived Thanksgiving with your jeans or pants zippers and buttons intact as they meet their mark with a neat fit into the button hole or snap, congratulations! You’re half-way there to success in not gaining weight during this extended holiday season.

Weight gaining, red letter holidays

OCTOBER: When Halloween comes on October 31st, you’ve likely already eaten some bite-size chocolate snacks. If you purchased the huge, discounted bag of candy to give out to trick or treaters, you probably have some leftovers. And if you’re like most of us, you ate (or are still eating) them rather than let them go to waste.

NOVEMBER: Thanksgiving Dinner is famous for its calorie count with the average person taking in more calories in a single meal than normally consumed in an entire day or two…or three. From pumpkin pie with whipped cream to mashed potatoes with gravy, or sweetened yams that taste like candy, there’s no calories here, wink, wink!

DECEMBER: Beware of the announcement of holiday parties promising great food and drinks. If your pants are getting tighter, these parties can be a deal-breaker in weight gain.

December is a month-long celebration of food, sweets and eggnog drinks. Some like to give candy gifts such as See’s Chocolates in a 1 pound box. Costco stores are famous for seasonal, packaged gift towers filled with nuts, candies, dried fruits, chocolates and cheeses. Some of us with our best intentions plan to give them away, but instead, break open the seal and feast on sweet & salty treats.

Advice: This author lost 75 pounds this year–losing it was easy compared to weight maintenance. Weigh yourself at the same time every day and write it down in a dated list. Hold yourself accountable each day for unwanted gains and be aware that food choices have consequences. Every time you start to eat a high-calorie, low nutritional value food, acknowledge that you may gain weight as a result.