Those holiday calories are hard to burn off

Here's some food for thought: If you think you're going to exercise to burn off holiday treats, you might have to do more than you think, according to Karen Collins, a dietitian for the American Institute for Cancer Research.

I read the AICR's press release about the same time a tray of holiday sweets showed up in our office. It wasn't exactly good news to find out that each of the cookies we were polishing off were around 60 to 120 calories. A person weighing 180 pounds, walking at the rate of 3 miles per hour, would have to walk about 15 minutes to burn the calories for each cookie. Rich desserts, often around 500 calories per serving, would take an hour's walk to burn off.

But it's the time of season when everyone gives and gets goodies, and it's hard to turn them down. It's no wonder most Americans gain up to five pounds between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day. The "experts" have advice — most of it we already know. But hearing it again might motivate us to DO it.

• Christine M. Palumbo, a dietitian for SuperTarget, suggests:

— Don't take a holiday from exercising.

— Try to get enough sleep. A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that sleep loss can increase hunger and affect the body's metabolism.

— Before a holiday party, eat a small nutritious snack at home, so you won't be ravenous when you get there.

— Bring your camera and be the party photographer. You'll be too busy to overeat, and you'll have preserved memories of the party.

— If faced with a holiday buffet, first look over the entire spread so you can make informed choices. Save your calories for new, interesting foods, and take only one tablespoon of each new dish. You'll sample a variety of foods and avoid overindulging in any one item.

— Eat slowly. Remember that it takes about 20 minutes for the stomach to tell the brain that it's getting full. Also, stop eating when you are about 80 percent full. This will allow your brain to get the message, and you will avoid getting "stuffed."

— Shrimp with cocktail sauce is a perfect party snack. It's virtually fat-free and high in protein, B vitamins, iron and the antioxidant lycopene.

— Make calories count. If eggnog's not your thing, spend those calories on a delectable holiday cookie instead.