Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Holiday Survival Guide - Week 1 - Planning

The holiday season is really only a few days long but it somehow gets extended to 90 days or more.  Nevertheless, it is fast approaching and I thought that a great way for us to approach this period is to break it down week by week.  Let's see if we can get through it with less stress, some weight loss or maintenance. We can even set ourselves up for making New Years Resolutions that don't involve losing the dreaded 5-7 lb gain that often follows the traditional Thanksgiving turkey and Christmas ham feasts, and New Year's drinking binge.  Join me over the next 12 weeks where we will look into everything from planning and moving around a work environment to goal setting.

You may be tired of hearing me say it but, plan, plan and then plan some more.  Plan for what you know is happening and even more importantly, plan for what might happen and of course, expect that there will be occurances that completely catch you off guard.  This is the time of the year when the unexpected happens all too often.  Remember, failing to plan is planning for failure.

So, how do I suggest you start? Decide what you really want out of this holiday season.  Do you want to maintain, lose or would you even accept a small gain in the scale.  Yep, you heard me right.  If you know that you are willing to accept a small gain in the scale then let's just put it out there right now.  Then, get your a calendar and start marking down those parties and events that you know you will NOT miss.  You know the ones with grandma and grandpa, church or school related events, and put them on the calendar now.  Start investigating what is going to be happening at these events as we will have to move through them.  We can't be having cookies and eggnog at them all and if we go without knowing what we are setting ourselves up for, crash will happen.

Once we have a schedule done, then we need to start mentally rehearsing how we will handle these occasions.  We have several options, from bringing some of our own lower point and lower calorie dishes, to avoiding the food entirely.  We will get into some of those other areas later in the series but for now keep your calendar handy so we can always know what we have in store for us.

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