Sinking Your Weight Loss Ship

SHORT DESCRIPTION: The holidays present special challenges for health, fitness
and weight conscious people. The Holly Daze article presents a number of
practical suggestions to help readers maintain their fitness and weight loss
goals throughout the holidays.

BODY OF ARTICLE: Thanksgiving -- day one of the "Great All-American Eating
Season." Too many of us "spoon off" on Thanksgiving and don't stop until New
Years Day. A frenzy of cheese, chocolate and whipped cream immersion will leave
too many of us greeting the New Year groaning, "I'm so fat! Tomorrow I'm going
on a diet."

Can you avoid the annual New Years diet? Of course! With forethought and a
workable plan you can partake of holiday treats and avoid the annual weight
gain. To paraphrase Ben Franklin, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of
dieting."

The biggest eating season mistake is to justify any and all food indulgences by
saying, "I shouldn't, but it's the holidays!" That comment is a dead give-away
to being in a Holly Daze. Whether consumed in July or December, approximately
3500 unused calories will add one pound of fat to your body.

The holiday season falls in the darkest part of the year when many of us are
affected by some degree of seasonal affective disorder. The lack of sunlight
triggers us to want to sleep more, eat more and move less. Physiologically, we
are primed to want "sweets" at this time of year. From the earliest human
history, we've held winter solstice celebrations featuring light and special
foods. Those special foods meet both physiological and psychological needs to
help us cope with the darkest, coldest part of the year.

Eating season 2006 is complicated by the sheer abundance of those special foods.
Our grandmothers made treats "from scratch," perhaps including a trip to the
woodpile to chop wood in order to heat the oven. All we have to do is stop by
the supermarket, make a phone call, or go to the freezer to gain access to
unlimited, rich, delicious food.

>From Holly Daze to Healthy Weights

Save the indulgence calories for really special foods. If you're having dinner
with a friend who makes the best cheesecake in the Universe, don't waste
calories munching on potato chips and packaged dips.

Writing down everything you eat takes you out of the daze. If you don't want it
bad enough to write it down, you don't really want it -- and will be sorry that
you ate it. Increase your commitment by contracting to e-mail your daily logs to
a trusted friend.

In the throes of Holly Daze we often frantically race against the clock, skip
meals, and have no time for exercise. Skipping meals leads to extreme hunger
and subsequent overeating, usually of foods that provide lots of calories and
little nutrition, like that plate of cookies that someone brought in to work.
Maintaining your exercise program burns off fat, increases metabolism and helps
you feel in control. It is the very best antidote for stress. Exercisers seem to
find it easier to say, "No," when someone asks if we want seconds on the pie.

Change the focus of the holiday gatherings from being food-centered to being
activity-centered. Spend an afternoon hiking or cross-country skiing, organize
an ice- skating party, check with your local Y to see if the pool can be rented
for private parties, patronize restaurants that offer dinner and dancing, or
take a walk through your town's historic district and delight in the
decorations.

The Pillsbury Doughboy speaks an elemental truth when he says, "Nothin' says
lovin' like something from the oven." Much of our holiday cooking and eating is
a way of saying "I love you." The food we put in our mouths is a substitute for
the words in our hearts. The more intimacy and connection that we create with
loved ones, the less we need to fill up "love space" with cookies. The
holidays are a time of indulgence, indulgence that is good for our souls and
spirits. If you give up the sense of being indulged, you will feel deprived