Now that the I'm-going-to-explode feeling from Thanksgiving has subsided, it's time to start thinking twice about all the food we'll face between now and the new year.

According to Nutricise, Americans gain an average of 7 pounds between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day. To help people combat the added weight, dietitians with the weight-loss program have come up with seven tips to avoid the 7 pounds of holiday weight gain:

Indulge mindfully: Choose low-fat foods such as roast turkey and vegetables. Choices like ham, duck and stuffing contain a lot of fat.

Practice moderation: Consider eating smaller amounts of food that are high in fat. Pay attention to the amount of food you eat.

Be patient: Wait 15 to 20 minutes after a meal to request seconds or dessert. Don't eat if you're not hungry.

Substitute: Use reduced-fat butter, sour cream or yogurt.

Don't starve yourself: Eat small meals throughout the day so you do not binge at holiday meals.

Go easy on alcohol: Alcohol is loaded with calories and decreases inhibitions, potentially causing you to eat more. Consider a wine spritzer with equal parts wine and club soda.

Relax and enjoy: Engage in conversation to keep your eating at a healthy pace. When you talk you are less likely to eat.

Wasting food

Americans throw away 15 billion pounds of uneaten produce every year, amounting to about $30 billion in wasted food. That's about 150 pounds or $300 worth per household.

These numbers come from The Garbage Project at the University of Arizona. Researchers there conduct scientific studies of household garbage and landfill contents to paint a picture of society's waste management, dietary consumption and recycling behaviors.

Officials at Glad paired this information with their own study that found most Americans don't know the best way to store fruits and vegetables for maximum freshness.

For example, mushrooms and chili peppers keep better in paper bags, while blueberries and grapes stay freshest in plastic.

For more tips on storing produce, go to www.glad.com/ freshprotect.

Oatmeal, please

Children who eat oatmeal versus cold cereal or no breakfast performed better on memory tests, according to a study by Tufts University and sponsored by the Quaker Oats Co. Among children in the study, more than two-thirds of them performed better on tasks of spatial memory important for math and geography when they ate oatmeal versus no breakfast. Only half of children who ate cold cereal performed better.

"Oatmeal's whole grain, high fiber and protein attributes are believed to be some of the primary factors," one of the study's authors said. "These nutritional attributes help delay digestion and promote a slower and prolonged release of glucose in the blood system."

From Healthy.net