The Holiday goodie season is well underway. Co-workers are constantly bringing treats and you try desperately to avoid the break room which overwhelmes you with smells of all the holiday sweets.

This is one of the hardiest times of the year for most people to stay on track of reaching their health and fitness goals. Below are some tips to keep you from tipping the scales!

1. Set goals! Sit down today and write down a few goals to keep you focused and on track. Maybe it is not eating any sweet treats or exercise at least 5 days a week for at least 30 minutes. Whatever your goals are WRITE them down and post somewhere that you can see them everyday!

2. Plan ahead! Plan your meals for a week in advance or even every 3-4 days. Make time to prep your meals and have them ready to grab first thing in the morning. You will have no excuse to eat fast food or grab a bag of chips from the vending machine.

3. Try new “Heathly” recipes. Yes we all love grandmas famous pumpkin pie and the classic green bean casserole but take some time to make adjustments to your recipes to make a heathlier version. Find cooking or baking substitutions like Greek yogurt for sour cream, applesauce instead of butter and eggs, whole-wheat flour instead of white refined flour for examples. There are a lot of great articles and websites out there to help you do this.

4. DRINK WATER! Water has one of the most important roles to play in maintaining a healthy body and helps flush your system. Water is the carrier of oxygen, nutrients, and hormones to the body’s parts and also provides a medium for the removal of toxins, dead cells, and waste material.

Have a happy and heathly Holiday season!