I love, love, love the Christmas season, and don’t want it to ever end.
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At the same time, part of me just can’t wait until it’s over, and the reason is food.
There’s too much of it everywhere, all the worst of the best: eggnog (spiked or no), pies, cakes, candy and the omnipresent cookies.
I’m guilty of playing the Cookie Card. I’d show you pics of this year’s batch of reindeer cookies, but they look . . . deformed. Misshapen. Downright scary. Mind you, I had nothing to do with their prep. These were produced by my husband and daughter Sunday night while I was chillin’ at Barnes & Noble. Here’s what they’re supposed to look like: Sugar cookies, with green M&Ms for the eyes and a red one for the nose, mini pretzel twists as antlers.
What ours look like: Reindeer Cookies from Hell.
I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking, Just because there are deformed cookies and nog around doesn’t mean you have to eat them. To that I say, Yes I do. Why? Because it’s Christmas, and we should all be making merry and bright, celebrating and having fun, and all the world over, those activities are associated with party food.
It is my goal to be able to enjoy the holidays without fear of weight gain. Yes, there’ll be gain; I just don’t want to fear it. I want to gain 5-10 pounds between Thanksgiving and New Year’s, then take it all off in the month of January.
You know, like normal people do.
I’ve got the weight-gain part down solid, sad to say. I am, however, very much looking forward to the new year, a new blog, a new beginning . . . . but more about that in another week.
Right now, I just want to make the absolute most of the remaining days, singing my favorite Christmas songs (off-key) and using too much tape on presents in an attempt to disguise my mistakes. This is not the time to obsess about fat and calories, but it’s always good to be mindful of just how much we take in, and I’ve at least been doing that. Tally so far: A lot.
Onward and outward. I mean, upward . . .
People are so worried about what they eat between Christmas and the New Year, but they really should be worried about what they eat between the New Year and Christmas. ~ Unknown
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Leslie J. Ansley is an award-winning journalist and entrepreneur who blogs daily for TheRoot. She lives in Raleigh, NC.
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