Kerrie Ann Frey

It’s the holidays.  Do you still have any sanity left?  I’m fairly certain I left mine in between Macys and Toys R Us in the ladies restroom.  You don’t have enough time, you have too many obligations and you want to eat too much to make it all better.

Please don’t.  You’ll hate yourself in the morning (the morning after New Year’s Day when America suddenly wakes up out of its food hangover from the previous weeks).  Try these few, easy suggestions to making it through the holidays – based in reality, not Biggest Loser Campus-land.

1.  Eat Fast Food.  But not the kind you are thinking.  Do you know what’s faster than fast food?  A microwave heating up the healthy dinner you made last night.  Leftover chicken casserole is warmer, less caloric and more filling than Filet O Fish.  I promise.

2.  Put down at least one bad item you were planning on eating.  I know that the temptations are dancing around the office, home or school.  I’m not saying not to indulge, but indulge responsibly.  Eat one cookie.  Have a bite of cake.  Then walk away knowing you allowed yourself to taste, but didn’t dive into it like Michael Phelps in the off season.

3.  Sneak in the exercise.  At the mall?  In between every second gift you buy, take a walking trip through the mall at a rapid pace.  If you are buying ten gifts, that’s five extra walks around the mall.  Depending on your speed, you could burn an extra 300 calories…while you shop!

4.  Burn, baby, burn.  One day each week this season, push yourself harder than you normally would during your workout.  If you run 4 miles, do it faster or add an extra mile.  If you do an exercise tape, add a few higher impact jumps.  Just a little added effort will burn that extra appetizer you know you’ll want at the office party.

5.  Go slow.  Turn on the slow cooker in the morning.  Throw in some chicken, veggies, broth and seasoning and leave for the day.  By the time you come back, you’ll have something warm that can be eaten as is or can be accessorized for some even fancier.  Throw it on brown rice or put in on crusty French bread and you’ll have that wonderful, healthy dinner you can bring to lunch tomorrow instead of fast food.

The holidays are just that – a couple of days to enjoy being with family and then leaving them at the airport while you speed away with glee towards home and white wine…wait, that might be just me.  The holidays, however, are NOT four weeks of unadulterated eating.  Sorry.  Pull it together and enjoy yourself, but don’t stuff yourself.  Leave that to Santa.

Ho, ho, ho, people!