Festive eating habits of the stars

For most people, holiday eating means abandoning diets and gaining weight.

So how do most celebrities manage to get by without gaining seasonal pounds?

Apparently a little advance planning can help prevent that post-holiday bulge without ruining the feast.

Fitness expert Bob Greene whose clientele includes Oprah Winfrey, does not believe in depriving yourself from any traditional meals.

"Go ahead and celebrate but first look at the actual celebration," said Greene. "Change the way you think about it because more in recent times these celebrations were about the food. That's the first mistake."

Actress Debra Messing confesses the thought of dieting runs through her mind several times during the holidays.

"The truth?" she asks. "The first time I think about dieting is after Thanksgiving, but then I realize the holidays are right around the corner so I usually just blow it out until after the New Year."

That isn't to say you can go overboard with the turkey, stuffing and eggnog over the next few weeks.

While eating comfort food has become part of any holiday feast, Bob Greene reminds everyone of the reason we have all gathered around the table in the first place.

"Shift not only what are you celebrating, the most important thing are the people and in some ways the food can take away from that," clarified Greene. "Food was meant to be a very pleasurable activity. When the quantity is excessive it doesn't become that. It actually is a source of guilt."

Victoria's Secret Supermodel Marisa Miller eats guilt free around the holidays.

"Well most of the year I am maintaining for my job. Obviously I have a lot of motivation," said Miller. "Anybody that knows me knows that I love to enjoy food and it's a huge pleasure in life. I definitely ate lot during Thanksgiving. But I don't feel guilty about it because if you are eating healthy beforehand and you indulge one day it's fine. As long as you don't let that span out into like three months of that kind of eating and then you're fine."

Bob Greene also says you shouldn't deny your cravings.

Just make sure you keep your eye on the prize, seeing your loved ones:

"To make it more pleasurable, really high quality food that tastes great but emphasize also spending time with others," said Greene.

APTN