It’s the season of casseroles and pies and heavy meat dishes. It’s the season to loosen dietary restrictions and enjoy the abundance. According to a 2016 study published in the New England Journal of Medicine and reported by MSN, the average American's weight increases by almost half a percent over Christmas and just two-tenths of a percent over Thanksgiving. It’s only problematic, according to researchers, because most people don’t lose the weight – and so each year, the scale ticks up.