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Forget the Twelve Days of Christmas!  Nowadays, people start celebrating the holidays before Halloween can even make her grand exit.  Jack-o-lanterns give way to Jack Frost before you can wipe off your vampire-werewolf-warrior-princess make-up!  On the stroke of November 1^st, out come the colored lights, jingle bells, and pine scented candles!! We start going crazy for Frosty & Rudolph, and we just don’t stop celebrating until New Years Day!  This gives us 60 full days of hall-decking & merry making, and before we know it, Jolly Old St. Nick is not the only one with a belly “like a bowl full of jelly”!  We have cookie decorating parties, and Holiday Parties…. office parties, family parties, dinner parties, tree-trimming parties new years’ eve parties….. I could go on and on, but I think we get the picture.  As our raucous Christmakwanzakah celebrations rage on, we are faced with glaring & seemingly insurmountable temptations, coming at us from every direction!  One minute you are chatting up your office ‘crush’ under the mistletoe at a seemingly innocent company party, the next you are uncontrollably downing handfuls of gingerbread cookies, “bite sized” confections, and chocolate snowmen.  Don’t even get me started on the candy cane martinis!!  Of course we want to be fabulous, because… you know…. “’Tis the Season”, but how can we be “merry & bright” without waking up January first needing a separate zip-code for our ‘snowglobes’?  Here are some of my tried & true ways to show our love for the Jolly Fat Man in the red pants, while staying in our skinny jeans!

Don your ‘gay apparel’!: No matter what our size, we all have fun dressing up now & then!  We know the incredible feeling of slinking into your favorite little black number that highlights every curve, or putting on a sharp suit that makes you stand a little taller.  You might query: “what does this have to do with staying fit?”, and I answer you “Everything”!!!!  If you take the time to take pride in your appearance  from the outside in, it can inspire you to do the same from the inside out!  Baggy sweats, oversized Tees, & forgiving elastic waistbands invite us to be sloppy, out of touch with our bodies & to indulge with reckless abandon.  BUT…. When we dress up in our holiday finest, we remember how good it feels to look our best!  Sometimes, this incentive alone is enough to steer us away from the 7 layer cheese dip & over to the cru d’ete!

Keep “visions of sugar-plums” out of your head : to most of us, there is nothing more tempting than a seemingly endless buffet of sweet treats, and no more sure-fire way to give in than to walk into the party famished!  Eat before you go!  Nothing huge… (I mean, let’s face it, you KNOW you’re going to arrive & try at least one mini-quiche and maybe a cracker with spinach dip), but satiate your hunger.  A protein rich snack is best… maybe cottage cheese, or a handful of nuts.  You can even indulge your sweet tooth nature’s way, before leaving the house!  Try eating an apple, or even a banana with light coat of peanut butter. Mmmmmm!!  Satisfy your craving in a filling, healthy way & you’ll be less likely to stray.  If you really have a love/ hate relationship with your willpower, slide a few slices of dried mango or pinapple in a Ziploc & toss it in your bag.  Then instead of reaching for the coconut snowball, save hundreds of calories with your own sweet-treat!!