Merry Christmas!!!!

I walked into a store the other day and there were Christmas decorations all over the place!  I was beginning to think I was in an episode of the twilight zone but unfortunately, Christmas is around the corner.  This is a big time for people who are looking to start a fitness program.  How do you get through this period from halloween to New Years without packing on the weight.

I was having a conversation with a friend about Thanksgiving and what she was planning on making for the meal.  She was talking about substituting pureed cauliflower for mashed potatoes and other things to make the meal healthier and lower in fat.   Now, this friend is an on again off again exerciser/healthy eater….a lot more off again than on if you catch my drift.  Not that there’s anything wrong with that.  She kept going on about how she really wanted to make that meal healthy and low fat. The Thanksgiving meal is a scary one for a lot of people, but to be honest with you I don’t understand exactly why.

I admit I look at things simplistically and I see this the same way.  Here is my question…when you are not worried about what you eat throughout the year, why would you choose the holidays to all of a sudden become obsessed with losing weight!  There is a wonderful line I read a number of years ago that I use with my email signature.  “People are so concerned about what they eat between Thanksgiving and New Year, when what they should be concerned about is what they eat between New Year and Thanksgiving.”  This is very powerful when you think about it.  Focus on the whole year and these holidays will not be such a big deal.

Don’t get me wrong, I have the utmost respect for someone who is looking to make a meal like that healthier.  I would simply ask not to be invited to Thanksgiving dinner!  I’m kidding of course… I have never turned down a free meal.  And it has nothing to do with not liking cauliflower.  Here is the catch…I eat cauliflower a lot throughout the year.  I don’t eat mashed potatoes and gravy very much at all except Thanksgiving.  You can tell what I am going to have and pass another piece of pumpkin pie!

Until next time…