Notes from a Healthy Strides holiday

1. It is advisable to start your day off on the right foot, even a holiday day. On Christmas Eve and Christmas, I was able to coerce a nearly recovered Mark into running with me. I covered about 7.5 miles between the two runs - nothing crazy but enough to offset the pound of cheese (and couple Triscuit crackers) I ate on Christmas Day.

2. Nutella + Orange marmalade + English muffin = a DELICIOUS yet festive post-run snack/late-morning treat/early lunch.

3. If you know you are going to relax dietary habits for one meal, it's best to keep an eye on things during other meals. I made light wheat french toast Christmas morning, saving calories for the pound of cheese and three Triscuits I snacked on Sunday afternoon.

4. Still have room for dessert? Bring your own to avoid any feelings of guilt. I made a peppermint ice cream pie using low-fat peppermint ice cream (half a 1.75-quart container) mixed with a tub of light whipped topping and mini chocolate chips and dumped into a ready-made chocolate pie crust.

5. A screaming, nap-refusing baby is a sure-fire way to miss dessert. Not necessarily bad since you ate a pound of cheese and three four Triscuits.

 
6. Babies do not care that it is Christmas nor do they care about presents under the tree.

7. Lucky for me, too, because it meant Santa could bring me a Kindle Fire.

8. Instead, Miles was far more interested in Nana's kitten and tried to take it home. Not so fast, buddy.

9. He managed time to break from leg and tail pulling and general cat torture to show some interest in sweet potatoes. He was a fan.

10. So much so that he refused to share said sweet potatoes. A shame, really - it might have limited the cheese consumption to a half-pound.

How did your holidays shape up?