December can be a fun, joyous season. Families everywhere are celebrating Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa. Each of these winter holidays brings many festivities and lots of yummy, delicious food. The temptation to eat and drink in excess can be hard to overcome.

Although getting your five-a-day is important for promoting good health, overindulging on anything is bad for you. Indeed, overindulgence — consuming more calories than your body requires — is one of the main factors contributing to weight gain. Many of us love sweets during the holidays, but large portions won’t do anything but add surplus calories that get converted into fat.

Consider Santa Claus. One of the benefits of being “good St. Nick” is eating all the holiday cookies left by children around the world on Christmas eve.