The holidays and other special occasions can be a challenge if you are trying to lose weight or maintain a weight loss, but with a little bit of planning and fore thought you can get through times without packing on the pounds and you can enjoy them at the same time.

• Keep moving. Keep your exercise routine on track and if at all possible, try to get a little bit of extra exercise in. Exercise will keep your metabolism high and will help keep your appetite in check. If you are able to exercise for an extra twenty minutes, it will help counter act the extra calories you are consuming.
• Control the meals that you can. If you are going to a special dinner in the evening, trying cutting back at breakfast and lunch. You can even do this in the days following the special occasion.
• Don’t deprive yourself. Depriving yourself may often lead to a binge. Enjoy a controlled portion of whatever it is that you are craving. Having a small portion now may keep from eating the whole pie later.
• Invest calories in what you can’t always have. Make room for that once a year treat by passing on a food that you can enjoy all year around.
• Fight eater’s remorse. If you overeat at lunch that does not mean that you have to write off dinner. Each meal is a new opportunity to make healthy choices.
• Get real. Special occasions are not the time to lose weight. If you can maintain your weight you have done well. You won’t have to make up any ground. You will just be starting where you left off.

Special occasions are a time for you to enjoy yourself. Plan ahead and you will be able to get through these occasions without gaining weight and once they are over you can pickup where you left off and resume your regular eating habits.

Marjorie Salada is the owner of Weight Loss 3000, a website that contains information on weight loss, exercise, weight loss surgery and living a healthy lifestyle.

Amazing as it may seem, water should be the most important part of your weight loss program. Water is a true catalyst when it comes to weight loss and keeping it off permanently. You should drink 64 ounces of water a day. If you drink very little water now, you are probably going to have gradually increase your water intake until you reach 64 ounces. Adding more water to your diet will help you have a more consistent weight loss.

Here are some facts about water and the reasons that it can help you with your weight loss:
• Water suppresses your appetite naturally and helps you body metabolize stored fat. Research has shown that decreasing your water intake will cause fat deposits to increase, while increasing your water intake can reduce fat deposits.
• The way to fight fluid retention is to drink enough water. When the body does not get enough water it tends to hold on to every drop for dear life, causing your body to store water outside the cells, resulting in swelling. Using diuretics will cause the same effect. If you are experiencing excess water retention, you may want to examine the amount of salt that is in your diet. Your weight loss will come faster if you can reduce the amount of salt in your diet. If you are overweight you need more water than a person of normal weight.
• Water helps your muscles maintain proper muscle tone by giving muscles the natural ability to contract and by preventing dehydration.
• Water helps prevent the sagging skin that follows weight loss.
• Water helps rid you body of waste and it also helps prevent constipation.
• Water is absorbed into your system more quickly if it is cold. There is evidence to suggest that drinking cold water can burn calories.
• When you drink the optimum amount of water and you no longer experience fluid retention, more fat is used to fuel your body and you will experience less cravings and hunger.

Water truly does sustain your life and without we will die. It is amazing that something so simple and something that is free is so important to our lives. If you drink 64 ounces of water daily, within a month you should notice a lot of differences in yourself. Our bodies are made up mostly of water and the best way to keep them healthy is to drink a lot of it.

Marjorie Salada is the owner of Weight Loss 3000, a website that contains information on weight loss, exercise, weight loss surgery and living a healthy lifestyle.