Seasons eatings

Move that body: 30 minutes pilates (Viva la resistance, 0; Me, 1!)

It's official, friends. We have entered the Bermuda Triangle.

The Bermuda Triangle of healthy living, that is.

Dun, dun, dun.

It's the time of year surrounding Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas when calorie-, fat-laden treats are barraging you from every direction. The community table in the office is piled with leftover Halloween candy. The well-meaning neighbor brings a treat for your lil monkey. Your relatives get a bit overzealous with the pies. Cookies must be made.

It's can be a serious attack on your healthy lifestyle - if you aren't properly armed.

Here are a few of the tools I carry around at the holidays:

Take a bite ... and then stop. You want a piece of that office candy? Take one - and no more. Have to try Grandma's pecan pie and the pumpkin at Thanksgiving? Have a sliver - not a slice - of each. It's my belief that limiting yourself will set you up to binge.

Be so generous it makes you sick. My mom and I used to make (and gift) Christmas candy and cookies. There were Buckeyes, chocolate-covered cherries, candies filled with homemade caramel, spritz cookies, iced sugar cookies and God knows what else. I love to continue the tradition, often making bread and cookies for friends and families. I always make too much and, by the end of the season, the last thing I want to see - much less eat - is a cookie.

Walk the other way. Those M&Ms at work still calling your name every time you go to the bathroom? Use a different bathroom, walk a different way - whatever you can to keep 'em out of your sight.

One for one. My grandma always used to tell me that when drinking alcohol, you should drink a glass of water for every spiked beverage. It works out great until you start doing shots of Jager on the bathroom toilet ... but anyway, the same rule could apply for treats. Have a piece of candy/slice of pie/Grasshopper and then have a piece of fruit or plate of veggies. Soon enough, you won't have room for that third caramel-coconut brownie bar.

Make a run for it. There are lots of holiday-centric races around, and they are a lot of fun. Last year, Mark and I ran a Thanksgiving Day 10K with four of my cousins. It was awesome - and not just because I beat all of them (and was seven weeks preggo). Getting out there and being active put me in the healthy mindset from the start, and it made me less likely to go for a third dinner roll. By the way, two was perfectly acceptable.


Get in the end zone. My family, I think, will sometimes play football. Tackle football. Get out there with the guys and show 'em who is boss. You'll be too busy shoving your uncle's face in the mud to drink a Mudslide.

Use a cane. Walk around with a candy cane in your mouth. I bet you aren't going to want to eat much of anything with that peppermint taste in your mouth.


Remind yourself of this: The holidays might come just once a year but they come every year. You might feel like you have to eat every pumpkin delight, chocolate treat, pecan-crusted dish to come your way because it's the only time you get to eat them. Guess what? You'll get to eat them next year. Or sooner if you get festive and throw yourself a Christmas in July or Thanksgiving for warm weather party.

What are your tips for getting through the holidays?