Thanksgiving Preparation

It almost seems like Thanksgiving and Christmas have been rolled into one 5 week celebration. I don't hate it. So, this post technically could be titled Thanksgiving AND Christmas preparation. Either way you look at it, the holidays are charging at us, and so are all of the parties, dessert trays, neighborhood gifts, Costco samples, and seasonal goodies that come with it.

As you know, I LOVE all holidays. It is just in my blood. I get SO excited to decorate, celebrate, bake, and enjoy the festivities of the season with the people I love. I assume many of you feel the same way. With the holidays come a lot of fun and fabulous traditions. Many families have certain foods they love to eat, parties that they always attend, and outings that occurs each year. With these traditions come a lot of traditional holiday goodies, and often we find ourselves using the holidays as an excuse to go buckwild at the dessert table. Many people even decide to throw in the towel, and start saying things like..."I'll just start over for New Years." Oh if I had a dollar for every time I have heard that one. Let's make that ten dollars, I might as well make the big bucks.

While New Years is a fabulous time to refresh goals, and get revamped for progress that is coming ahead, why not keep making progress through the holiday season instead of setting yourself back. Here are a few ideas that may help keep you moving forward. For Christmas this year, you should give yourself some healthy progress or some weight loss!

1. Set guidelines now. Make some goals for yourself as to how you are going to plow through the holidays with ease. Maybe your goal will be to allow yourself one dessert a week, or you may even want to decide that you are not going to partake of all of the neighborhood goodies that come your way... GASP!?!?!?!...I know. I said progress...remember?

2. Make exercise a priority. As times get busy with holiday fun, or schedules become extremely full. With these full schedules we start shuffling things around, and quite often exercise seems to fall of the to do list. Don't let it! It may be a good idea to try to get your workout in first thing in the morning to make certain that you don't get to the end of the day and find that you are out of time.

3. Choose to keep your family and friends active. Add some new traditions to your family fun like skiing, snowshoeing, sledding, neighborhood Christmas light walks, and hiking to cut down your own Christmas tree. There are more holiday traditions than the ones that just involve eating. Weird, I know.

4. Stay in check. Make a schedule that allows you to visibly cross off your exercise, weigh yourself, track your food, or whatever else helps to keep you honest.

5. WATCH YOUR SNEAKY HANDS. I can't emphasize this one enough. Dessert trays, bags of treats, food preparation, and any other events with food can allow for forgetful hands. What do I mean by this? I mean that it is really easy to grab little handfuls, bites, and tastes here and there without even thinking about it. Be aware of what you are eating! Little bites (especially of decadent sweets) quickly add up.

Alright Holiday Season...Here we go. Let's DO THIS!! One wintery step at a time.