Preparing for winter months and holidays

Winter begins its creep, and thus days become shorter and colder. Your body likely thinks famine is coming. And thus the holidays come in wearing big, bad boots, ready to kick your metabolic butt up one side and down the other.

How can you prepare yourself against even the most natural instinct of all (saving up for famine times with feasting)?

October
Don’t bring any candy into the house. If you find it makes its way in, make sure it leaves expediently. You don’t need it. And if you do, buy the good stuff; the 90+% Lindt chocolate or the individually wrapped sugar free candy, limiting yourself to a piece when you desperately need it… but keep that to a minimum, drink a lot of water, and don’t scare yourself with gas as a result.

“Look to become the designated driver of healthy wholesome eating and you’ll continue to those happy moments for many years to come.”

November
Thanksgiving is about family, love, and a main dish of nothing but meat. Gotta love that! Use this holiday to give thanks to family and friends, take long walks outdoors through the leaves, and enjoy this time of year. Since so much of what adorns the table are vegetables and meat, you can really control what you’re ingesting while feeling in control!

December
A time of great stress coupled with the holiday spirit, this is probably the toughest month for two reasons: the holidays and New Year’s Eve. Within a week, you have two major events huddled around food and possibly adult beverages, lack of sleep, and dread/excitement.

Christmas
Limit baking. If people give you food gifts, take them, smile, and regift. Stuff stockings with non candy items like nuts, jerky, maybe a few fruits. If you need to bake, go for a low carb legal cheesecake. Lord knows I have about 10 recipes just for those now!

New Year’s: Remember this is about fun, family and friendship. Why ring in the new year with regrets and guilt over how big your expando pants wee during the year? Use December 31 to focus on what’s important, how far you have come and how your journey has been an amazing learning experience you wouldn’t trade for the world. Put on your dancing shoes and have some fun!

Remember, the holidays are about making special memories that last long after the antipasto, cookies and snacks fade away. Look to become the designated driver of healthy wholesome eating and you’ll continue to those happy moments for many years to come.