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Avoiding holiday weight gain: Mom Squad with 3News' Maureen Kyle

It's the time of year for dinners, parties and food we typically don't indulge in. If you want to stay on the healthy track, Dietician Kristin Kirkpatrick has tips.

CLEVELAND — Many people are already planning what will be on the dinner table at Thanksgiving, and at the same time, most are probably still sneaking Halloween candy here and there. This is the time of year for indulgences.

But in today's Mom Squad, if you don't want to end up in stretchy pants all the way into 2023, Maureen Kyle talks to Cleveland Clinic Dietician Kristin Kirkpatrick. She says there are a few things that throw us off track -- even if we have the best of intentions.

“Number one, willpower isn't really a thing. I really don't have a discussion with my patients about willpower because willpower is really pretty much taken over by the power of how the brain reacts to certain foods,” says Kirkpatrick.

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“So, when you have that candy bar that was in your kid's Halloween bag and you eat it, there is actually a cycle where your neurotransmitters go up, you feel great, your blood sugar goes up. Once that dips, you need to get more in order to get that feeling back. So, it's unrealistic for us to say, I'm only going to have one bar if we have the option of having 15 bars in front of us,” explains Kirkpatrick.

So should you indulge? She says go for it, don't deprive yourself. But in the interview, Kirkpatrick talks about how to make healthy choices throughout the holiday parties to make sure you're not totally falling off the wagon.

And do you want to know what she tells her clients? Kristin goes in depth about what can cause longer term weight gain and how to set your boundaries. That's on WKYC-Plus which you can find on Roku and Fire TV. You can also see the episode on your WKYC YouTube channel.

Editor's Note: The following video is from a previous, unrelated report.

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