Let the Christmas bells ring…and the goodies begin! From pumpkin spice to gingerbread to eggnog, the month of December is full of tasty treats everywhere you look. While indulging in some of your favorite holiday foods is totally fine, Christmas BLTs can get you in trouble fast!  Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato, you ask? Nope! Bites, Licks and Tastes!

Little things like bites, licks and tastes can add up to lots of unwanted calories and cause weight gain if you’re not careful. Small things done consistently can be a game-changer, good or bad.  So, to keep your Christmas shape, here are 5 tips to get a grip on the BLTs this holiday month: 

1. Chew on the right stuff: One of the best ways to keep from licking the spoon or tasting the food is to chew gum when you cook. This distracts your mouth and inhibits you from mindlessly popping little bites in your mouth while cooking. Many women can easily down a hundred plus calories in the cooking process, before they ever even get to the meal!
2. Skip the dough: Baking your grandma’s pie or your mom’s secret-recipe cookies happens more around the holidays than other times of the year. Don’t eat the dough! Just don’t. Remember, a few spoons of dough is actually a few cookies and typically you want to try the finished product too. Skip the dough and make your taste buds wait for the actual cookie. Your waistline will thank you come January!
3. Leave your kids plate alone: Parents across the globe finish their kids’ leftovers and easily tack on a few hundred calories to the meal they already ate. Mac-n-cheese, chicken nuggets, and other “kid foods” can add up quickly as they are more calorically dense. Try refrigerating the food for your kids to eat tomorrow, but don’t lick their plate clean. Not a good idea!
4. Step away from the buffet table: After you make your plate at the holiday party or family gathering, walk away from the food table! Standing by the table makes it was too easy to keep nibbling. A bite here, half a cookie there, a small handful of chips, and bite-size quiche is easily 250+ calories and you don’t realize you ate anything. Get your food and find a seat or table out of reach of the buffet table.
5. Skip the pity-party: This time of year, many people, women in particular, feel sorry for themselves because they are trying to stay on track and not “allowed” to eat any of the “good” food. Don’t be that girl! First, there are lower calorie foods that are “good” and taste quite yummy. Second, all foods are allowed, but ya, if you are headed to a Christmas party every night of December, you might want to simmer that down! Filling up on rich foods every night is likely to add on some pounds. So, either exercise more on the party day or take a few bites of the indulgent food and pair it with some lower calorie options.