OK, I know some of you out there can actually walk away from endless dishes of candy, platters of cookies, scrumptious loaves of banana and cranberry breads, to-die-for homemade pies, and "more-often-than-usual" family dinners. Bravo to ya! I can't even relate.

But for the rest of us, here's another installment on how to survive the holiday eating frenzy. This nutritionally-designed, practical plan can help us avoid the weight gain that's as traditional as the holidays themselves.

Give these 7 easy steps serious consideration:

1. Eat a high fiber cereal for breakfast, one with more than three grams of fiber per serving. Try muesli with stevia-sweetened yogurt. My favorite stevia is Sweet Leaf, vanilla flavored.

2. Eat low-glycemic fruit for a mid-morning snack (cherries, grapefruit, dried apricots, apples, strawberries).

3. Eat a sandwich for lunch with 100% whole-wheat bread, thinly sliced deli meat, and minimal mayonnaise. Eat two good handfuls of baby carrots, celery, or sugar snap peas. If you're dealing with candida albicans, then you'll want to use yeast-free bread (found in the refrigerator section of a whole foods or natural foods store).

4. Eat a leafy green salad or a steamed vegetable for dinner, accompanied by a small (6 oz), lean piece of fish or skinless poultry.

5. Drink water, with chlorophyll added, often throughout the day. Chlorophyll is rich in minerals, vitamins, proteins, and micro-nutrients - all important in maintaining health, especially in balancing acids and bases in the body. I get mine at our local natural foods store.

6. Enjoy just one sensible portion of a holiday treat - without the guilt. If you have self-control (I can't relate to that) then you can perhaps do this once every day during the holidays. But beware: Sugar is addictive. Like one tiny drink to an alcoholic, one taste of a sweet to a sugarholic can mean a "lost weekend." It may be better to just walk away.

7. This is a great time of year to be reading some inspiring and motivating self-help or nutrition books. When my resolve weakens, I turn to good reading. For instance, here's what I've either read or have been reading the last couple months:

•  Flax for Life! (Jade Beutler)
•  Secret to Hunza Superior Health (Carl Classic)
•  The Spectrum: A Scientifically Proven Program to Feel Better, Live Longer, Lose Weight, Gain Health (Dr. Dean Ornish)
•  Original Fast Foods (James and Colleen Simmons)
•  What to Eat (Marion Nestle)
•  The Sugar Solution (Sari Harrar)
•  The Law of Attraction (Michael J. Losier)
•  The Gift of a Year: How to Achieve the Most Meaningful, Satisfying, and Pleasurable Year of Your Life (Mira Kirshenbaum)
•  Dare to Be 100: A Point-by-Point Program for Living Long and Enjoying Life to Its Fullest (Walter M. Bortz, M.D.)
•  Man's Search for Meaning (Viktor Frankl)