Tammi Murray, Mrs. North Carolina America 2010, demonstrates the correct technique for exercising your shoulders.

The winter months are upon us and change is in the air. As you dress for colder weather you typically wear more clothes and show much less skin. More time spent indoors and becoming less active means burning fewer calories and body fat. It’s also the time for attending holiday parties and eating delicious foods. Unfortunately, eating more and exercising less will always lead to gaining more body fat.

Now that you are aware of what can happen, you should begin planning your winter fitness program now. There are many different exercises you can do, but the most important exercise to ensure that you do not gain extra fat is cardio training. When you get your heart rate up it means your blood is pumping, you're breathing hard, you’re sweating and burning calories. With many cardio exercises, you can burn 100 to 500 calories depending on how hard you work, how long you exercise and how much you weigh.

Keep in mind, when you attend the holiday parties with all of the wonderful foods it is important to remember that you must burn away all of those extra calories you have consumed. If you do not, you will gain extra body fat. I suggest completing a minimum of 30 minutes of cardio each day when you are not actually training for a pageant. Of course, if you are training for a pageant then you should complete a minimum of one hour of cardio training a day.

Another important item to remember is to not overeat when attending a party. I always suggest drinking two glasses of water prior to arriving at the party. This will give your stomach a full sensation and prevent you from overeating. Always pick the small plate or saucer. The less room you have on your plate the less you will eat. Make it a rule to never have seconds at the party. One small plate and that is it.

And now for the best information of all—try on your swimsuit once a week. If you like what you see then you are doing great. If you don’t like what you see then you now know what to do.

Keep in mind that you cannot train for a competition year-round, but you can use these guidelines to help keep your body in acceptable shape between competitions and make your preparation much easier.

Mike Mauney is a personal fitness trainer certified by the National Federation of Professional Trainers. Mike specializes in personal fitness training for women of all ages. For more than 18 years, he has been training dancers, models, cheerleaders and pageant and swimsuit contestants of all ages and competition levels (local, state, national and international). His daughter, Michelle Mauney-Lowery, was Miss North Carolina USA 1995. Some of Mike’s training credits include: Miss USA 2005 Chelsea Cooley, Miss Teen USA 2004 Shelley Hennig, Mrs. International 2004 Tammy McDonald, Miss USA 2003 Susie Castillo, Mrs. International 2002 Tonya Matney, Miss United States World 2001 Carrie Stroup, Mrs. United States 1999 Janice Ward, Miss Teen USA 1998 Vanessa Minnillo and Mrs. America 1994 Keyna Baucom. His web site is www.bodydesignbymike.com.