With tongue in cheek, I have to suggest that you evaluate the reason for the season rapidly descending upon us. Think about the reason we celebrate the upcoming holidays.
Is Thanksgiving about gratitude and being grateful for our blessings?
Is Christmas a sacred holiday?
Is New Years a celebration of a new year bringing another opportunity to speculate on changes you would like to manifest in the upcoming year?
Or are these holidays just a free license to abandon, cares and concerns about healthy diet and life style? Could you celebrate and enjoy the holidays just as much with focus on the reason of the season rather than the departure from the dietary norm? Surviving the holidays without additional poundage seems to perplex many people as January is one of the busiest months for gyms and the sale of exercise equipment. No doubt a result of New Years’ resolutions about getting healthier. Dare to consider how it would feel starting the New Year feeling great about your state of health!
I grew up in a home with a Mother who was a full-time stay-at-home Mom. I remember the holidays being filled with special treats that were only allowed during the holidays. Each day we came home from school, another batch of cookies or candy had been made, some to be sampled for our after school snack, but most to be saved for the many cookie plates exchanged with neighbors and friends. True to tradition, I did the same thing in my own home until my two athletic son’s entered Jr. High School and began wrestling during Nov. and Dec. They pleaded with me not to bake until after wrestling season to eliminate unnecessary temptation as they monitored their weight to stay within their category. By the time wrestling season ended, I was too busy with other holiday preparations to bother with last minute baking or candy making. To my surprise, we emerged on the other side of the holidays having enjoyed them just as much, and without the dreaded sugar blues that caused additional weight gain. So ended my holiday baking tradition and so ended my annual New Years resolution to lose weight. I can tell you from personal experience that although it seems a little strange the first year, losing this tradition certainly didn’t diminish our enjoyment of the holidays.
With today’s busy lifestyles and more women working 
outside the house than not, Betty Crocker Mom isn’t in the kitchen as much as previous generations. The holiday treats seem to flourish just as much, the only difference is who does the cooking. Is it done at home, or by a giant food corporation? The principle here is not bringing temptation into the home when it’s too hard to resist because sugar is very addictive. So enjoy your holidays with abandon, for the reason we celebrate them, not in reverence to the sugar corporations.
