Your Holiday Eating Plan

As Thanksgiving is only a week away, we’re entering one of
the happiest times of the year.  Yet, if
you’re someone looking to shed a few pounds, or maintain your progress from the
past few months, the thought of holiday eating may cause an immense amount of
stress.  If you’re a part of that crowd, you
may have already devised some sort of plan that will control your eating/drinking
during this time. Not to say that your plan is bad, but when it comes to
holiday eating, it’s time for the wise words of Mr. Mike Tyson:

“Everybody
has a plan until they get punched in the face.”

Joking
aside, it’s time to be realistic.  Are
you really going to refuse dessert or take less of a certain dish that you only
have once per year?  Life is about
enjoying yourself, and depriving yourself will most likely cause you to cheat
later on.  This doesn’t mean that there
aren’t any rules, as moderation is still key.

But,
it’s time to fast forward to when you’ve overindulged yourself on all the cake,
soda, alcohol, and fatty foods you’ve consumed.  Ready? 
Accept it and move on.  As I wrote
here, exercising to justify what you ate is a losing proposition, and nothing
can be done to change the past. 

Furthermore,
you really have to put in some serious work to gain weight from only a few
meals or a weekend of binge eating.  While
I’m not one for calorie counting, the fact is that it takes 3,500 calories to
make up one pound of bodyfat.  Thus, most
of the “weight” you’ll gain is actually water weight that you’ve retained from
those saltier foods, and probably not a whole lot of body fat.

If
you’re thinking about having a second piece of cake or pie during the holidays,
do it!  Try not to feel guilty,
especially if you know you make healthy choices the rest of the year.  After all, it’s what you do everyday that makes you who you
are. If you start to eat a ton of terrible foods  every single day, then – and only then – are you allowed to start feeling guilty.

Being healthy is not a
choice, it’s a habit!