'Tis the season to get chubby.

I am a particularly social person as it is, and the Holidays are no exception.  With a full schedule of parties and get-togethers with family and friends, food planning and healthy eating too easily fall to the wayside.  NEVERMIND the added challenge of walking into the grocery store and being confronted with about a gadrillion Holiday favours and flavours  - chocolates, cookies, cakes, pies, eggnog, bacon-wrapped everything, and so on.

In the past ONE week, I have been to a company Holiday party and two full four-course dinner galas, and there are only more to come.  From Halloween to Easter, the high-fat smorgasbord lives strong!

It is easy enough to blame all of this glutinous eating on the current season, and make that promise to get back on track in the new year - pft, don't kid yourself!  The over-eating is just a condition of bad habits that we carry throughout the year.  When faced with a get together, a celebratory or social situation, being conscious about food goes out the window. 

What are we supposed to do? 

First of all, you and I are in charge of our own behaviours.  Say it with me, "I am the one shoving potato chips, chocolate and cake in my mouth and I am the one agreeing to order a party-size pizza instead of going to the grocery store to get a fresh dinner for the group." 

You are going to go to parties throughout the whole year, and trust me, you're going to be eating.  A company party menu may be out of your control, but a Saturday night with your friends is not.  Instead of dreading the spread, use this as an opportunity to eat and share some good foods that are good for you. 

It is just as easy to put together a fruit tray instead of a pastry tray, provide lean meats instead of the typical high-fat antipasto spread of cured meats and HUGE portions of cheese, and to buy a bag of pretzels instead of chips.

Okay, before you start rolling your eyes, I just want to make one thing clear.  I am fully aware that it is okay to indulge every now and then, and parties are the perfect place to eat foods you my not have in your fridge all the time - like pancetta, cheesecake, or coconut shrimp - and I love to eat that too.  But, a social life can be a battleground for those of us who try to eat well.  If you provide healthy options for your friends and party guests, I guarantee you they'll appreciate it!  I certainly would!

The Dilemma of Deliciousness

I mentally organize my day by my meals.  Does anyone else even do that?  It is not out of some obsessive compulsion to control everything in my life, I promise.   

I love eating. 

Eating is always an experience for me.  I cannot wait until my next encounter with a morsel of some delectable tasty bite!  However, there are some evil-doers out to ruin my would-be-lifelong love with food ... c-a-l-o-r-i-e-s.  That which is most delicious is most dangerous.  I have to be conscious about what I put into my body.  I love food but have anything but a firery metabolism.  Irony at its finest if you ask me. 

Sometimes, I give up the things that I crave the most, and concentrate on fruits, vegetables, whole grains, etc. - they can also be quite yummy too, by the way.  I use up valuable chow-time to get a work-out in.

As with anything in life, it is about balance.  Okay, easy enough...so, what exactly are you going to get out of this from here on out? 

First, a little perspective ... do you ever notice that in the course of a day you'll be discussing current events, something interesting you just did, a new film you saw - whatever.  Then, you start to get hungry, and "food-talk" creeps into the conversation? Well, I hope to create the same kind of dialogue here.  I will share some of my other interests, and the general goings-on out there that catch my eye, but with some tasty treats sprinkled in. 

I want to whet your appetite and spark your interest in life and food, and maybe, motivate you to try something new!

Stay hungry....