These are things I have been doing to become less fat around the holidays the last bunch of years. Now that I am pretty much where I want to be, I need to continue to do them in order to stay less fat. Hope these tips can help some of you out like they have helped me.

1. START THE DAY OFF WITH SOME EXERCISE If you're not weight training that morning, make sure to at least get some conditioning in. It's not so much about the calories you'll burn, as it will help a little, but rather it's about being disciplined and starting the day off on the right foot. You can undo a lot of hard work by throwing caution to the wind because of a holiday.

2. DON'T EAT ANYTHING UNTIL THE BIG MEAL (if you trained that morning just throw down a protein shake or some aminos if you are worried about getting all catabolic from one session) I know, I know, there are a lot of people and articles that say eat a nice clean meal before you go so you won't eat as much. To that I say, NEVER has eating a cup of egg whites kept me from going back for a second piece of pie! For me, those egg whites or whatever just end up being extra calories...so why bother?!?

3. DON'T PICK This really goes with rule 2, but people have a funny way of justifying things for themselves. At big family gatherings, there are usually some appetizers hanging around. The crackers and cheese, the chips and dip, or whatever is not part of the meal. Stop lying to yourself. These are not necessary. Rarely is picking at food that's been sitting around with other people's dirty paws rummaging through it worth the calories. Wait until the actual meal.

4. MAKE HOLIDAY EATING ABOUT ONE DAY, not several. It's really easy to fall off the wagon a day or so before a holiday and a bunch of days after. You start thinking you'll be so busy, it's ok to just eat out the night before (the day before Thanksgiving is one of the busiest days of the year for pizza places). Then it's like, well, I have all these leftovers, I'll just eat them through the weekend and get a fresh start on Monday. No bueno! Next thing you know, those five pounds that took you over a month to lose, were put back on in just one weekend.

For Thanksgiving, I'm eating with the family until my heart's content. I know I will get to take home some leftovers. I'll have a meal of leftovers and desserts that night, and then that's it. Thanksgiving eating is over! At least that's always the goal. If you have some good turkey meat leftover, by all means eat it the next couple of days. It's good protein. However, all the sides and desserts are a no, no if you are trying to be less fat.

5. TRAIN THE NEXT DAY Hell yeah! Don't waste all that amazing glycogen you have stored up. I'm doing my mock meet the day after Thanksgiving. It's one of my favorite times ever to train. I always feel strong and well rested after filling up with bird and lounging around and watching football the day before.

6. IF YOU FALL OFF THE WAGON, GET RIGHT BACK ON Let's all face it, relapse is part of recovery. We are not all perfect. That said, if you have a weak moment and catch yourself having some leftover dessert on Friday morning, don't fall down the rabbit hole until Monday like most people do. Forgive yourself and go do something healthy.

It's really, really hard for some people to get less fat, myself included. It was and continues to be a battle. The holidays can turn into full blown food orgies for many reasons. First, food tastes good. But also, the holidays can be a very emotional time and that's definitely a trigger for eating. Be strong and hold it together. If you have been getting less fat, keep after it. If you want to be less fat, don't wait until the holidays are over to start. Why create more damage to undo.

I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving. Eat awesome food and enjoy some good company. Then pull it all back together and get some kick ass training in.