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QUINCY, ILL. -- During the holiday season it seems tasty treats are popping up everywhere we look. From the kitchen table to the lunch room, sugar cookies are there, so is it bad to indulge just a little? Hy-Vee dietician, Jenn Kamps says no.

"It's not about going without the sweets it's about going with proper portion and in moderation," Kamps said. "Instead of eating a whole thing split it into half or into thirds and that saves calories right or go with a cupcake option which is a smaller size too."

Portion control is just one of the healthy eating tips Kamps gives out during her Holiday Hold program.

"Well the holidays can be called the season of temptation," Kamps said. "There's extra food everywhere that can lead to added pounds, so this is a ten week program geared towards just to maintaining your weight through the holidays."

The program teaches participants everything from how to shop at the grocery store to how to cook with healthy food substitutions. Kamps even runs workout sessions in the Hy-Vee conference room.

"For me it has introduced a lot of new foods because she does the store tours," Jennifer Stollberg, a Holiday Hold participant, said. "I've tried things that I would have never would have even began to think I would enjoy."

"I have shied away from some of the holiday treats I normally eat but you can have those by doing it a different way and by making smarter choices by how you do it," Michelle Terwelp, a holiday holder, said.

But whatever you do don't call the Holiday Hold program a diet.

"I don't like that word," Stollberg said. "If you want to stay where you're headed you have to change everything you can't just change it temporarily and go on one of the fad diet type things you have to never go back."

Kamps' next program kicks off in January and will be aimed at weight loss. So until then she says its okay to eat a cookie, after all it's Christmas!

To get a printable version of Kamps' healthy pumpkin pancake recipe, click here.