Plan Ahead: How to Stay on Track During the Holidays!

The holidays are looming ahead, and we all know what that means..... FOOD FEST! EAT TILL YOU BUST! Believe it or not, it all starts sooner than Thanksgiving...it starts so innocently with Halloween. You know... that innocuous pillowcase bag of goodies that Johnny brings home from trick or treat? Before you can even tuck little Johnny into bed after his sugar high, his goodies turn into your temptation's worst nightmare! You hear screaming coming from the bag: "Chooooocalllllllate here! Choooooocallllllate - free for the taking!" And suddenly, you have an out-of-body experience as you hear yourself telling Johnny not to worry about his bag, "I'll put it in a good and safe place for you so nobody gets into it. " You can almost hear yourself cackle with laughter like the 10-year-old witch who came knocking at your door earlier in the evening! Of lesser significance, but equally tempting, are the bowls of candy corn and chocolates your skinny co-worker places next to your computer this time of year, let alone the treats you need to make for Johnny's third-grade class!

Only a few weeks later is Thanksgiving. Yep, cooking and baking and baking and cooking - and a little, or a lot, of test-tasting along the way! Apple pies, pecan pies, pumpkin bars, carrot cake, zucchini bread, sugar cut-out cookies... (by the way, some of the listed desserts contain fruits and vegetables - they do NOT constitute a healthy serving of either!!!!!) The actual day is filled with indulgence - gorging yourself until you sit at the table with the button to your pants undone. Of course, sitting around the table visiting isn't exercise. So it's a double whammy. And if you have friends and relatives who travel a distance to your home, then you will spend the next few days continually preparing yummy treats for your guests, with the visiting revolving around eating, LOTS!

Lo and behold, the Christmas season pounces upon us immediately after Thanksgiving. Not only is the day itself another feast-laden event, but the weeks leading to it are inundated with Christmas dinner parties, work parties, Christmas baking, Christmas cookie exchanges, co-workers being generous with their homemade concoctions, cocktail parties, etc. etc. etc.

Let's top it all off with New Year's Eve and New Year's Day - just to plunge the knife in a little deeper and give it a twist! The average person gains 10 pounds during the holiday season. Ten pounds! That's a whole dress size!

The POSITIVE part of all this - is it doesn't have to be this way!!!!! You can stop the holiday-binge cycle that you're used to. We've all done it. It's part of American holiday tradition! Food, food, and more food. Sit and watch football, sit and visit, sit and eat. But you can start NEW traditions. A new way of celebrating holidays. And the beautiful thing about that? You can start teaching your children, by example, a better, healthier way to manage the holiday season!

You may be thinking, "Gee whiz, it's only the end of September and we're talking holidays already?" But remember, this battle for a healthier you is waged in the mind first. Take the time NOW to plan, to organize, and prepare yourself for the season that will be here before you can say, "Snickers!" With that, let's get down to the nuts and bolts. What exactly can you do to arm yourself against this holiday onslaught??? Here's some fab Web sites with great ideas:

http://www.netwellness.org/healthtopics/diet/nutribyte2003dec.cfm

http://www.ynhh.org/online/nutrition/advisor/holiday_eating_tips.html

http://www.thedietchannel.com/Holiday-Eating-How-To-Avoid-Gaining-Weight-During-The-Holidays.htm