As much as we love the onset of the holiday season every year, most of us know that one of the pitfalls of Christmas is the extra weight we put on, from eating all that wonderful food. There are so many parties and gatherings, with so many gorgeous and sugar-filled treats, most of us tend to sigh and accept the fact that we'll gain a few extra pounds.

But Christmas wouldn't be Christmas, without too much wonderful food. We find it at most of the season's special events. It's impossible to avoid, and with a bit of thought, we can make the season a bit less expansive to our waistlines.

For instance, most gatherings and parties at Christmastime are about family and friends, about love and fellowship. We should remind ourselves, as we arrive at these gatherings, that we're here to enjoy our families and friends, and not just to taste every single dessert on the table.

When seeing a spread of holiday food on a buffet table for the first time, we instantly want to taste everything. But that's just not practical. Look at the food, carefully, and decide what you really want to have, then help yourself. Just don't take large portions of everything offered-you can't possible enjoy it all, equally.

Don't arrive at a Christmas party hungry. You know that there will be wonderful food, and the hungrier you are, the faster you'll eat and the more you'll eat. Think about the real reasons for having a holiday get-together, family and friends, and remember that the food is temporary, but your relationships can last forever.

Once you've filled your plate, move away from the food table, preferably to another room. Remove yourself from the source of temptation, and engage in the kind of conversation with others that will create the kind of memories of the party that you want to keep-not just a memory of over-eating.

Kids will tend to indulge in tasty treats until they're stuffed, if they're not monitored. Your children probably will eat too many things, during the holdiay season, that you try to limit the rest of the year. The best thing you can do is to make sure they maintain their activity levels, and that, once Christmas is past, that they get back to their normal diets.

Enjoy the holiday season and all of the wonderful Christmas food. But plan on working out a bit harder for a few weeks afterwards. And don't skip your workouts during the holidays. A few extra miles in January are worth the tasty treats we love at our Christmas feasts.