Remember that ice cream you ate three hours ago? Well now it has been added onto your waist.

As we head into the Holiday season packed full of parties, drinks, appetizers, baked goods, treats, candies, and cookies, think about this:  three hours.

Researchers at the University of Oxford found that fat from meals is added onto your waistline just 3 hours after eating. The average person can add 3 teaspoons of fat to their waist after a meal.

If you wore a tight skirt to the party, you may want to stay away from the desserts. Or you might start feeling uncomfortable.

The good news is that the added waistline fat is only short-term storage. Meaning your body put it there to use as fuel throughout the day and for exercise — so it’s not meant to be permanent.

The bad news is that if you don’t burn it or if you keep eating excessively, that fat will be moved to long-term storage on the hips, thighs or buttocks.

You don’t want to avoid fats, you just want to make sure you are eating healthy fats and eating them as part of a balanced meal. Remember — you need to eat fat to lose fat!

This post comes to us from our friends at Optimal Body Balance.