Have you ever tried to diet over the holidays? It’s pretty miserable.

I tried it one year, and it made me an absolute grinch. Before heading out to a party I’d try to anticipate what yummy hors d’oeuvres, and more importantly to me, what delicious desserts, would be served so that I could look up their likely calorie load and calculate how many I could have (usually only one…and nothing but water to drink). Of course, once I got within a stone’s throw of those yummies I couldn’t eat, I’d end up (to borrow a few words from Dr. Seuss) with crummies in my tummy. I made it through the holiday gauntlet without gaining a pound, but I swore I would never do that to myself again.

So delicious...it's positively wrong to give these up entirely

On the other hand, if you throw caution entirely to the wind, you could end up on January 2nd with more than just a few extra pounds to lose. Since I’m trying to work off my pregnancy pounds, I certainly don’t want to add to my weight loss challenge next year. So what’s a girl to do? How about put a few of the little Buttoned Up principles to work (you can too!).

1. Ditch Perfection!

There is simply no such thing as a perfect calorie counting plan going into the holidays. I know there are going to be things I don’t want to pass up. So I won’t. I’m giving myself a 3 pound flex. If I hit the three pound threshold, I have to reign it in and eat salads for a day or two and work out extra hard. It’s so much easier to deal with a 3 pound gain than a 10-15 pound one.

Weigh in every day - and stick to a max gain of 3 pounds

2. Focus!

I have to remember that I don’t have to do everything to keep myself in check, just the one or two things that really work. For me, that means: drinking a glass of water before meals or parties to make myself feel fuller, and exercising at least four days a week, no excuses. As long as I do those things, I know I’ll be roughly on track. If I can do more – fabulous, but not necessary.

8oz of water before eating helps you feel fuller

3. Ask for Help

There’s nothing quite like committing to another person to keep you on track. Find a buddy, post something on your Facebook page asking others to help you stay on track, or try something like Stikk.com. The latter is a website that gets you to publicly make a commitment to do something, like my goal to exercise four times a week during the next four weeks. Then it enables you to put your money where your mouth is. For example, if I fail to exercise at least four days a week (my husband is my referee – the person who guarantees that I have done what I said I have), then my credit card is debited $100 – all of which goes to the NRA, an organization I cannot stand. There’s nothing like the fear of giving to the NRA to get my tush out the door for a run!

Make your commitment public on StickK.com