Avoiding A Big Fat Thanksgiving Day Binge

Here we go.  Here come the holidays.  Winter is oozing up under my skin and into my psyche.  I'm suddenly hungry and grumpy for no reason, and my clients are too.  Thanksgiving is next week.  It's a beautiful thing to be with friends and family and give thanks, blah-di-blah.  Yes, it's a good thing, but it's also stressful and a big, fat excuse to binge on Thursday, Friday, and however many more days it takes to plow through the left overs.  Then come Christmas, Hanukkah, New Year's, and football season.  Cookies, cocktails, and cheese wheels appear out of nowhere, but it's okay to indulge, right?!  It's the holidays!!!  Wheeeeeee!

No.  Not okay.  Mostly because you'll feel like ass the next day or the next week, and you'll definitely feel like ass when the sun comes up on New Year's day and you weigh seven pounds more than you did the day before Thanksgiving.

Why do we take beautiful, celebratory moments and turn them into excuses to abuse our bodies? Why would we want to make a warm occasion sad and uncomfortable by stuffing ourselves until our insides ache?

This year, I am going to be thankful for a body that treats me pretty well most of the time, and I'm going to do my best to treat it well right back.  I'll savor the dishes that bring me back to my childhood, but I won't eat so much that it makes me feel old.  That's my big plan... eat it all but not too much, take a walk, and take a minute to look around at the people I came to see.  It's about us, not about the food.

Now I just have to remember that - when a second, giant serving of buttery mashed potatoes is calling my name.  Mmmmm.