Weighty Wednesday -- Holiday Lagnaippe

I tried to think of one topic to talk about, but I had so many mini-thoughts that I decided to just give y'all a little lagniappe.

So . . . how did you do over the holiday weekend? Did you lose weight? Gain weight? Or stay the same? Even though it's just a day there's the pre-holiday and the post-holiday to deal with: family, friends, food, etc.

After my wonderful milestone of a 50 pound loss, I managed to gain a little. It wasn't just holiday weight though, considering I weighed in shorts for the meeting before Thanksgiving and jeans yesterday. Given the 1.6 pound increase, I'll have to be pardoned for one of those pounds due to the clothing--besides, I weigh at home BEFORE I go to WW (I don't like surprises!) and I only gained 0.6 pounds, which puts me at a total weight of 128.8 lbs. Still less than my goal weight of 132. I'm good with that. Now it's time to focus on losing that little bit of gain.

Thanksgiving is just the beginning of the party season until Christmas. This is the time of year that everyone dusts off their snacky-candy-cookie recipes and brings in large trays for everyone to eat. Have you figured out a battle plan for this occurrence? You might want to start thinking about it right now, because there will be temptations everywhere you look. Tins of popcorn will show up. Peppermint bark. Christmas cookies. Puppy chow.  . . you don't know what puppy chow is? No, it isn't the stuff you feed your puppies, well, it is, but it isn't the puppy chow I'm talking about.
Puppy Chow is a Chex-type cereal mix covered in chocolate and peanut butter, and then tossed in powder sugar, which makes it look like puppy chow. And it's evil. Definitely deliciously evil. Do not even attempt to try.

Holiday parties are also in the picture, office parties, school parties, social get-togethers. Do you have a plan of attack when parties include alcoholic beverages? Remember when the booze starts flowing so does your inhibition about eating or non-eating. Drink one or two glasses of water before going to a party and one glass of water in-between each glass of wine/mixed drink. Before you put something in your mouth, ask yourself if you really want to eat that Lil Smokie sausage or are you just eating to eat? If someone offers you something practice saying "No, thank you." Trust me, their feelings won't be hurt, they'll carry on and offer the food to the next schlub. If you do place a variety of food products on your plate, try just eating one bite, and decide if the item is worth it. If it isn't, don't eat it and toss it in the trash or let the server take your plate away. Putting a napkin over the top of the food is an easy way of making it "out of sight, out of mind". No matter how you look at it, the choices offered at parties are almost 100% NOT Weight Watcher friendly. You have to have a plan to deal with it.

Stress adds to the tension of the holidays, the need to get it all done, bought, wrapped and picture perfect. Are you serious? Look, it's your job to enjoy the season for what it's all about, preparation for Christ's birth. Don't allow yourself to get sucked into the frantic wackiness that comes with the season. If you have to hit the mall, don't do it on the weekend. Monday and Tuesday mornings are the most quiet. Traffic gets worse with crazy drivers. Stores are packed. Expect everything to take longer than expected. Get out early and practice your patience. Getting frazzled only sets a bad example for your kids, upsets other customers/drivers, and makes everything worse. Find your Zen, center yourself, take a calming breath and chillax. (yeah, the kidlet hates it when I use this term. Bwahahahaha!)

I haven't mentioned the weather factor, probably because we haven't had much change in weather in Oklahoma--other than cold and sunny. Though we desperately need rain, many parts of the world are getting too much rain, snow, or sleet. And if you have to go to the parties or shopping--stay safe.

Stay safe. Be aware of your surroundings, including people wandering around in parking lots. You don't want to become a statistic.

Stay hydrated. The cold weather does a number on your system, drying out your skin. Staying hydrated--water, please, not Starbucks caramel-macchio-frappio-chinos--do you KNOW how many calories are in those things?? Crazy number like 410 calories per 16 oz. Almost 1/4 of a normal calorie count of only 2000 calories! Is it really worth it? Doubt it.

And remember, it's easy to undo poor food choices from one party or one meal, but when you add a string of poor choices together, then it becomes a problem--a weighty problem--one you don't want to have to keep addressing.

Later, Peeps! Happy Holidays!