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Many of us know that losing weight can be hard. Unfortunately losing weight can be even more difficult around the holiday time. This is not limited to the traditional "Christmas season" that everyone knows packs on an average of fifteen pounds on the typical person. Just about any holiday is a true danger zone for the dedicated dieter.

How can someone on a diet succeed through a holiday? Can a dieter actually manage to stay on their diet through a holiday season? The answer is "yes" and then sometimes "no." A great deal of the answer is determined by the dieter's own determination.

Many holidays revolve around family and other social get-to-gethers. Most of us know that these social events have food as a central "occupation." Many women spend hours in the kitchen preparing traditional family recipes or new recipes they are looking forward to trying. Those that are on diets need to plan ahead when they attend a family event. Sometimes the best game plan should be to actually consider bringing some of your own food. You can often ask the hostess what she will be serving and this can help you make your decision if you can easily stick to your diet.

Another option is to offer to bring something that is both delicious and healthy for everyone to share. Quite often, when you do this, everyone "digs in" and is thrilled to see a healthy choice offered at a social event. Sometimes it is even a bit funny to see one's healthy dish to be the one that is chosen repeatedly over the fattening goodies that most hostesses take great time and care preparing. One great benefit to bringing healthy food to your social events is this gently encourages those in your life to consider healthy eating if they aren't doing so. They may be quite impressed with your progress and could easily ask you for more recipes.

When attending a holiday function, do your best to focus on the social aspects of the event instead of the food. Those that are on diets often find dealing with yummy fattening foods to be quite stressful, as they are worried that they will "cheat." Focusing your attention on having engaging conversations reminds you of the true point of this social event and will help to keep you away from the food.

Sometimes a true challenge dieters face at holiday occasions is the "food pushers." Food pushers can come in many forms: the grandmother, mother, mother-in-law or just about anyone. The food pusher has one objective: to get you to eat something you don't want to eat. Often it is unclear exactly why they want you to eat it. They often use guilt, sometimes saying things like "Why, I made this especially for you." They have also used compliments such as, "You look so skinny! Eat something!" Any dieter needs to be on the true alert for the food pusher. Smile, be polite but do not give in. Eventually they will give up.

The holidays are a wonderful time to spend with family, friends and other loved ones. These times should be treasured and remembered. Your diet is a temporary situation. Focus on sticking to your diet now so this regime can soon be over.