rg1 For all of you who have been waking up each morning searching for something to help you cope with all those glasses of champagne, egg nog, and "hot toddies'' laced with rum you consumed the night before. Guess what? You were searching in vain.

Mrs. Betsy Baillie, of Nutrition Services says there are no secret cures for those holiday hangovers.

"Coffee and cold showers only make for wide awake drunks,'' Mrs. Baillie said.

She explained the symptoms of a hangover often included a headache, thirst, upset stomach and, in extreme cases, nausea and vomiting. Mrs. Baillie said the headaches were caused by the blood vessels in the head expanding while the dehydration was the result of the kidneys pulling water from the body's cells.

She added that alcohol could irritate the entire digestive tract to the point that it would result in some drinkers vomiting or suffering from diarrhoea.

According to Mrs. Baillie the only cure for a hangover is "time and rest'' since nothing can make the liver handle alcohol any quicker.

For all those who plan to bring in the New Year with a toast or two, Mrs.

Baillie suggested trying non-alcoholic beers and wines, using mixers liberally -- make wine spritzers or have a ginger beer shandy -- and eating before you drink.

According to Mrs. Baillie food can act as a barrier between alcohol and the stomach wall to decrease the absorption.

She said that carbonated mixers increase the rate of alcohol absorption for those who drink on an empty stomach.

If hangovers were not the only thing you "enjoyed'' over the holidays and you have also gained weight after eating goodies like cake, chocolates, Christmas cookies and cassava pie, Mrs. Baillie has some advice for you.

"People typically gain five to 10 pounds over Christmas,'' she says pointing out that a typical Christmas dinner with all the trimmings like turkey, gravy and cassava pie contains between 1,900 and 2,000 calories with 85 to 100 grams of fat.

An average piece of cassava pie alone has between 400 and 600 calories and anywhere from 15 to 44 grams of fat.

Mrs. Baillie said that in the old days people walked from house to house visiting friends and family and would burn the calories off but that was no longer the case today.

For those whose New Year's resolution will be to lose a few extra pounds Mrs.

Baillie advised setting realistic goals.

"A quarter to half a pound a week is realistic,'' she said. "And the best thing to do for the New Year is to just clear out all the Christmas food.'' She said the best way to go about losing weight was to take a look at your normal eating habits and see how you could reduce the fat either by choosing lower fat foods or by changing your cooking methods.

Mrs. Baillie pointed out a number of things to be kept in mind when fighting the battle of the bulge.

"People tend to fail because they eat in a way that is foreign to them,'' she noted. "little things like low fat mayonnaise, taking your lunch to work and not putting butter on your vegetables help.'' Mrs. Baillie also advised not developing a "diet mentality'' where you thought "I'm never going to have this or that'' because as soon as you had that item you would think you had broken your diet.

She said people often forgot that "fat free'' did not mean calorie free and they did not read the labels of the goods they purchased.

Mrs. Baillie added that "fat free'' foods were absorbed quicker than fatty foods which explained why "you get hungry quickly''.

"If you go for longer than five hours without food you will tend to be hungrier,''she explained."So eat at regular intervals.'' Mrs. Baillie pointed out that those trying to lose those holiday pounds needed to look at themselves and figure out what were their problem foods.

"See if you have eating patterns (eating more either during the day or evening),'' she explained. "Don't eat mindlessly, think about what you eat.'' Mrs. Baillie said that exercise was the key to losing those extra Christmas pounds.

She said for all those who will make it their New Year's resolution to start exercising, remember, "to be successful you have to plan it (exercise) into your schedule''.

For those who did not know their way around the gym Mrs. Baillie suggested walking as a form of exercise.

She recommended beginning at 15 to 20 minutes a day and working up from there.

"You need to walk briskly enough to get to the point of breathlessness but so can still carry on a conversation,'' Mrs. Baillie explained.

She said if walking with a partner, time yourself so "you remember you are on a mission and not there to chat''.

For those who were not fit she suggested finding someone who was at the same level because if you exercise with someone who is more advanced, "you will get discouraged and quit''.

She added that healthy eating habits and a healthy lifestyle were like learning to ride a bike, "you fall off and then you get right back on and keep trying''.