Want to Lose Ten Pounds by the Holidays? Do This One Thing Everyday

Wanna lose 10 pounds by the holidays? Just do this one simple thing every day. Ready? Try drinking a glass of water before you eat.

I'm sure you've heard that before, but now there's some new science to back it up. Researchers at the University of Birmingham in England had people drink 16 ounces of water 30 minutes before they had breakfast, lunch, and dinner -- and in three months, they lost an average of nine-and-a-half pounds.

Yes, 16 ounces is a big glass of water, but that's kind of the point; it makes you feel full, so you eat less.

Sadly, this doesn't mean you can forgo exercising and eat whatever you want. The people in the study also sat down with a nutritionist and got tips on how to be healthier in general, but researchers concluded the water thing definitely made a big difference.

In fact, the people in the study who followed the nutritionist's advice but did not drink 16 ounces of water before sitting down to eat only lost an average of 1.7 pounds -- and that includes people who only did it before one meal a day instead of all three.

I know drinking that much water daily sounds like a beat-down, but consider it a preemptive strike -- you know, to make room for the 10 you're gonna gain over the holidays. And, hey, the more water you drink, the more time you can spend playing Tetris on your phone in the bathroom. Double win.