The holidays have come and gone once again. If you are anything like me, then you probably enjoyed a little too many treats and probably went for seconds more than you wanted to at the family gatherings. Don't feel guilty. There is nothing wrong with enjoying the holidays. You just have to work harder to get the weight from the feasting to come and go.

The trick to shedding those pounds is eating properly and staying active. Piece of cake, right?

I recently had the opportunity to listen to a presentation on eating healthier in the New Year from Karen Sibert, registered dietician at Passavant Area Hospital in Jacksonville, Illinois. There was a lot of really good information in the talk, and I would like to share that with you in the hope it will be put to good use. So, here are the 10 Tips for Eating Healthier in 2009.

1. Eat smaller portions

- Super size this, King size that. The amount of food that we consume has continued to increase each year. With that increase, the calories we take in goes up as well. When eating at home, eat less than you normally would and save the leftovers for lunch the next day.

- Some stats to take in:

• McDonald's double cheeseburger = 440 calories
  McDonald's regular hamburger = 250 calories
• Subway 6" ham and cheese = 290 calories
  Subway $5 foot-long Meatball Marinara = 1,120 calories

2. Include at least one fruit and/or vegetable at each meal

- Don't think that your order of French fries fits under this category, they are still fried. But bringing an apple or your favorite fruit to work is an easy solution. If you can stand the taste of V8 juice, then you can fulfill the vegetable side of this tip as well.

3. Watch what you drink

- A lot of the time you probably don't think about the fluids that you are taking in on a daily basis. I know a person who drank a six-pack of Mountain Dew per day. One can of Dew has 170 calories, so multiply that by six, then that number by seven and you end up with 7,140 calories a week. That is more than half of the average 14,000 calories a week diet (at 2,000 a day). Every calorie from soda is considered an empty calorie, which means it has no nutritional value. If you are thirsty, stick with water. If you need to add a little something to make H₂O taste better, there are a lot of good mix-in packages to flavor the water or squeeze some lemon or lime juice in your glass.

- Some stats to take in:

• McDonald's large sweet tea = 230 calories (15 teaspoons sugar)
• 20 ounce soda = 275 calories (19 teaspoons sugar)

4. Move more

- Ideally, 30 minutes of cardiovascular activity, five times a week would be best. But even if you can manage three days a week that would make a major difference. Something to consider is that all the exercise after the first 30 minutes will begin to burn fat. It is also important to remember strength training. Muscle takes up less space in your body than fat, so the more muscle you have the leaner your body will look. Contrary to popular belief, exercise helps to curb your appetite, not make you eat more.

- Some stats to take in:

• After the age of 30, women lose seven pounds of muscle each decade. Fat replaces the muscle lost.
• When looking to tone your body, think low weight and high repetitions with about a 45 second rest between sets.

5. Use the buddy system

- Everything is easier when you have a partner. Find a friend, neighbor or loved one to meet at the gym or go for a walk around the neighborhood. You need to be careful of one pitfall of the buddy system. If your buddy wants to take a day off, it's fine every once in a while but it can't become a regular occurrence.

- Some stats to take in:

• Miriam Hospital/Brown Medical School and University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth research shows that people lose more pounds when they have a partner in the program. People by themselves did not lose as much weight.

6. Set realistic goals

- Know where you're at right now and where you want to be at the end of a certain time period. But, you should also pick a weight that will be acceptable if you don't reach the goal weight. Sometimes people are only able to lose "x" amount of weight, and their weight loss plateaus. Don't get frustrated and fall off the wagon. Be proud of how far you've come.

7. Think healthy, not skinny

- In today's culture, we're bombarded with images of runway models selling every imaginable product. Half the ads you see are digitally altered and/or shot in a way to make the spokesperson look younger, thinner or sexier. When you lose your weight, you don't want to look like a POW.

- Some stats to take in:

• According to the National Institute of Mental Health, the mortality rate among people with anorexia has been estimated to be about 12 times higher than the annual death rate due to all causes of death among females ages 15-24 in the general population.

8. Rate your hunger and fullness every time that you eat

- Growing up I was always told to eat everything on my plate before I could have dessert or leave the table. Not a foreign experience for most people, I would imagine. But, your parents aren't giving the best advice in this case. Yes, it is a good thing to eat your vegetables (read #2), but eating everything on your plate can leave you walking away feeling stuffed. It takes about 20 minutes for your brain to receive the signal from your stomach to stop eating. In that 20-minute window, a lot of food can come down the pipe. The key is to eat slowly and give your stomach the chance to say "Enough, I'm done." Don't be afraid of leaving leftovers. They make great lunches. Also, before you sit down to eat think about how hungry you really are and let that play a factor in how much you eat during the meal.

9. Eat smaller amounts throughout the day, instead of 1 or 2 large meals

- By eating 4 or 5 smaller amounts during the day you will help stimulate your metabolism, which will help to give you more energy. If you find yourself feeling snackie while at work, keep a box of 100 calorie snacks in your desk or measure out 100 calorie portions of your favorite food into Ziploc bags. Doing this will prevent you from going into a meal and overeating.

10. Be nutrient dense, not calorie dense

- Foods like fruits, veggies and whole grains will give you more nutrition and less calories than a candy bar or soda. Make the switch to whole grain pastas and bread. Incorporate fruits and vegetables into your daily meals. Limiting the amount of empty calories that you take in will help trim down your waistline.

- Some stats to take in:

• According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the average Haitian consumes 2,090 calories and under 50 grams of fat per day.
• According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the average human on Earth consumes 2,800 calories and about 75 grams of fat per day.
• According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the average American consumes 3,770 calories and 150 grams of fat per day.

For questions and comments, please contact Tim Klobe, Brown County Community Wellness Program Coordinator, via email at tklobe@illinois.edu.