The holiday season does not have to mean adding unwanted pounds. Of all the tips for weight management, these are 4 of the simplest that I have found. They are even backed up with some good scientific research.

These tips appeared in one of the myriad weekend magazines that come with my Sunday paper. I forgot which one. The pointers made sense, though.

1. Drink water. Middle-aged and older dieters who drank two cups of water (16 ounces) before each meal dropped about 15 pounds in a 12-week study. Non-water drinkers lost 11 pounds. The puzzle here is why the non-water drinkers lost 11 pounds. Some other factor may be operating here, although the study did not make that clear. Note that the results are not to be expected in younger people because water leaves their stomachs faster. Oh, well, it makes sense to drink water before a meal anyway.

2. Stay consistent. A little overindulging can have long-lasting effects. Adults in their 20s and 30s who over-ate for just four weeks not only added weight, they a held onto the extra weight for years afterward, even when they returned to their normal diets. The lesson is to keep your caloric intake stable every day.

3. Get good sleep. I have already written extensively about this topic. Poor sleep adds stress in many ways, which shows up in weight gain. In fact, even if you lose weight, poor sleep will result in more muscle loss and good sleep will result in more fat loss. The basic sleep need for adults is 7 to 9 hours per night, regardless of what you think you can get away with.

4. Keep track. When folks use weight management websites, they tend to keep weight off. This is just the modern version of keeping track. You can do this the old-fashioned way with pen and paper and get the same results. Just keep yourself focused on what is happening to your body. This is powerful.

All the best for managing your weight,

Dr. D

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• Holiday Eating Tips (womenandweight.com)
• Holiday Diet Tips to Beat Winter Weight Gain (brighthub.com)
• Will You Be Trying To Avoid Holiday Weight Gain This Year? (blogher.com)
• Fighting Holiday Weight Gain? Keep an Eye on those Holiday Drinks (prweb.com)