Good Question: How Much Weight Do We Gain Over The Holidays?

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- With the holidays comes the food. And with the food comes some extra, unwanted pounds for a lot of people.

Experts call it "stubborn weight" that can be hard to lose.

That got us wondering: How much weight do we gain over the holidays?

From mashed potatoes and gravy, to sugar cookies and other random treats -- there isn't just one culprit. They all play a Scrooge-like role in packing on the pounds. But it may not be quite as bad as you think.

"It's a common fallacy that we put on five to 12 pounds of weight between the middle of November until the middle of January. There is no science to support that," said Debra Barone Sheats, a registered dietitian at St. Catherine University. "What science really shows is that most people, we add between one and two pounds in that time period."

But Sheats says that can be a stubborn one to two pounds, and it comes down to quantity, not quality.

"We can really eat anything in moderation, and that's the key. Portion control is the main thing," she said.

Sheats recommends not going to holiday parties hungry. Have a snack of fruit, vegetables or nuts before you go so you aren't tempted to fill up when you get there.

Drinking plenty of water ahead of time can also fill you up without added calories. She also recommends avoiding fried foods and sauces as much as possible.

"The problem is most people tend to keep that weight on, and then the next year they gain one or two pounds again. Over 10 years, you can gain 20 pounds without even trying," Sheats said.

Another thing to keep an eye on is alcohol. Sheats says beer and liquor have a lot of calories in them, and they enable us to lose self-control, so we go back for seconds and thirds.

Exercising throughout all of this goes a long way as well.