The Good, The Bad and The Yummy

Christmas is the perfect season for overindulgence. I love to bake, cook, and eat yummy foods. If I'm not careful my waistline will require me to pull out the clothes I have hanging in the very back of my closet--you know, the ones with the double digits on the tag. Here is the good, bad and yummy of my Christmas season so far.

Good- A homemade hearty soup. It has immune boosting onion and garlic, carrots and potatoes, fire roasted tomatoes and turkey kielbasa. I spiced it up with sea salt, pepper, bay leaf and thyme. I needed one “good” thing on the table.

Bad- 3 dozen chocolate chip cookies, 3 dozen oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, and 2 dozen iced sugar cookies.

Yummy (and bad)- Homemade cinnamon rolls for Christmas morning. Let me just tell you that the recipe I used has several cups of sugar and 1 cup of butter in it! So yummy but I don’t even want to know the calories!

I feel like the patient who was talking to his weight-loss therapist about his eating problem. The therapist explained that people often eat when they are lonely, bored, sad or depressed. The patient emphatically shook his head in agreement. The therapist asked, “Well, which one causes you to overeat?”

“All of those!” The patient said, “And when I’m itchy or scared!”

Do you ever feel like that?

I do.

My goal is to make sure I’m not bored, sad, itchy or scared!

Here are the tips I plan on using this holiday:

Portion control—I will eat more sweets than I should, so I'll make a conscious decision to eat smaller portions.

Water—I bought a special plastic glass with a lid and permanent straw that will hold 20 oz. so I am making it a point to drink 4 full glasses during the day (This also keeps my portions under control). As a bonus the glass has Philippians 4:13 printed on it so I am reminded that I can do all things through Christ.

Exercise—even if I just take my Pomeranian, Alvin, for a 10 min. walk several times a day, I will do some form of exercise. Instead of pulling myself slowly up the stairs, I will sprint—as many times as I can remember to.

Sleep—yes, you read that right! Sleep is an important factor for well-being. My goal is to make sure I get a solid 8 hr. a night.

Stay Busy—my kindle fire will be used daily as I expand my brain and enhance my imagination with lots of reading (all suggestions for good reading are welcome).

How are you keeping your holiday waistline in check?