When the Christmas season rolls around, festivities, parties and food aren't too far behind. Christmas is the time of the year when everyone puts their diet on hold because of reasons like, "It's just once a year!" or "There are no diets on Christmas!". However, for most of us, while we're only too happy to set aside diet promises, our indulgences will always come back and bite us right where it hurts-the thighs, stomach and buttocks. The good news is that Christmas weight usually does not amount to a lot, making the goal to attain your pre-Christmas weight much more attainable. Here are some things to chew on to get right back into shape after the holidays.

• Smaller Portions. When you see a table laden with delicious holiday food, it's hard not to try every dish in generous servings. If you're the type who wants to try everything, it's probably better to try a bit of everything in controlled amounts. There's no point of having small servings and having ten of them by the end of the day! Having smaller portions of all the delicious food will give you a chance to try everything without overdoing it, and it won't feel like you're holding yourself back too much.

• Know the Culprit. It's a fact, some food just contains more calories than others in the same amount. For example, turkey by itself isn't as fattening in moderate amounts, but the sauce, stuffing and glazing that accompany it, can pack a calorie-filled punch. Steer clear of overly rich, oily, sweet or salty food for good measure. Opt for healthier baked or grilled food, over fried food. If sauces and nuts cannot be avoided, ask that these sinful items be served on the side.

• Clean House. It's the holidays, so it's only natural that you are expecting guests. Since cleaning the house is pretty much in your agenda, take this as an opportunity as a workout. Cleaning the house thoroughly. All the scrubbing, polishing and washing will certainly burn a lot of calories you've been earning over the holiday season.

• Keep a Balanced Plate. The rule when it comes to dieting is to include lots of fruits and vegetables in your diet, along with unrefined food with more fiber, lean meats and low-fat dairy products. Let this rule reflect in your plate, too. Including more salad than the glazed ham is ultimately healthier for you, and having more healthy food items will make you feel fuller without all the extra, unhealthy calories.

• The Four-Bite Rule. Desserts are definitely hard to resist, and are big source of Christmas weight gain. Don't worry, you can have your cake and eat it too. Simply follow the four-bite rule: Take four bites of a dessert and push away. Choose one dessert only and take normal-sized bites, no cheating!

• Drink Plenty Of Water. Before digging into the buffet, drink one or two glasses of water. This will make you feel more full and help you lessen your food intake over the course of the festivities.

• Watch What You're Drinking. Feeling good about your food choices and deciding to drink all the hot cocoa with marshmallows that you want? You may have just lost the battle right there. However, what is a holiday without a good drink? One trick to keeping your drinks in check is avoiding sugary or colorful drinks. Choose tea over coffee or cider. If you're thirsty, drink water immediately, so that later on when all the toasting is taking place, you won't feel the compulsion to drink more for your thirst.

• Lose Weight Before the Holidays. Some people try to lose weight first before the holidays come around, to "make way" for the incoming weight. Losing weight pre-holidays involves the typical exercising and dieting, a little sacrifice for the holiday treats ahead.

• Eat Before You Go to a Party. Holiday parties abound during this season, and you're likely to be invited left and right to Christmas parties. To prevent you from eating too much at a party, make sure that you eat a lot of fruit and vegetables or even a small meal an hour before you leave your house. That way you won't be too hungry when you get there and eat everything in sight.

• Exercise. Nothing sounds more dreary than exercising after the hoildays, but a 30 minute cardio workout daily combined with a moderate diet (no crash diets, please) can work wonders for your Christmas pounds to disappear quickly. Exercising to lose weight is also one of the surest ways to keep the weight off. It's also a great way to keep warm in the cold season.

• Choose Your Parties. It's to be expected that there will be a lot of Christmas parties, but in the interest of keeping the pounds off, it's probably better that you choose which parties to go to. Family parties and work parties are sometimes mandatory, but parties thrown by acquaintances? That you can surely live without.

• Snack Healthy. Whenever you're staying indoors, make it a point to eat healthy. Instead of that bag of chips, eat apples instead. The Christmas season is already one big eat-a-thon by itself that you don't want to be the cause of your own weight gain by eating even when you're not in a party.

• Share. Sometimes, overeating happens because you have a surplus of food and you don't want it to go to waste. Or you had too much fun cooking and now there's too much food for everyone. Why don't you go out and share your blessings? You can give out extra pies to your neighbors and even share a hot meal with the needy. Not only will this keep your Christmas weight down, it's also a great way to stock up on the good karma points for next year.

• Reward Yourself. Set achievable goals for your weight with corresponding rewards. For example, you can make a deal with yourself that when you lose five pounds within deadline, you will indulge yourself in some well-deserved shopping spree. Giving yourself a motivation to keep off weight goes a long way.

What's true about weight loss today is still true for weight loss the month after Christmas. Eating in moderation, healthy eating, exercise and patience are keys for Christmas weight loss. Don't be lured by crash diets; they rarely ever work, are bad for you and you don't get to keep the weight off. When it comes to weight loss, patience is key. Unfortunately, there are no shortcuts when it comes down right to it. Enjoy the holidays and enjoy your food-in moderation!