And it begins… you know what I’m talking about, the mouth marathon that lasts from Thanksgiving until all the Christmas leftovers are rotting in your fridge. The reason everyone has a New Year’s resolution and the reason you need to buy new clothes in January.
When you have a big family and just got married, one Thanksgiving dinner just won’t cut it. This year is an anomaly because we are splitting it up over two weekends, but usually I eat turkey for at least three days straight, not including leftovers.
Face it, after the epic feast that is Thanksgiving, comes Halloween; enter the hoards of sugary candy with no nutritional value. Whether you are a kid or parent, you know you eat more than your fair share and make yourself sick at some point well into November.
Then, just when you think you have eaten all the sweets in your house and you can’t stand to look at another Tootsie Roll, your co-workers bring their stray chocolate bars into work and it starts all over.
Speaking of November, this month gives me no relief because my birthday is Nov. 2. Anyone who knows me knows that the way to my heart is through my stomach so not only does it include a huge family dinner to celebrate my birth but also many homemade gifts from friends and family, ranging from jams and salsas to cookies and cheesecakes.
From there, comes Christmas baking and making fudge for everyone’s stockings. Let’s be realistic, you plan to make a batch of two dozen but by the time you have eaten some batter while waiting for the oven to heat up, tested them when they come out and “gotten rid” of any misshapen, burnt or imperfect ones, you are lucky if there’s half a dozen left.
The big family comes into play again for Christmas. Because my cousins have family in other parts of the world and travel over the holidays, we generally have an early Christmas dinner with them. Then, there’s the in-law dinner, then a feast with both grandmas and my dad’s dinner. The amount of eggnog alone will cause you to loosen your belt.
Keep in mind, this doesn’t include the calories from alcohol and snacks at the many, many, many holiday parties with friends or the fact that there is no time to exercise because of all the shopping and planning.
Again just when you think you’ve made it past the Christmas holidays and there is nothing else to eat in the whole wide world, your coworkers bring their holiday rejects into the lunchroom and who can say no to Edna’s aunt’s jello salad?
Finally, in January, it appears the end is in site but not before New Year’s where you drink your body weight in alcohol and ingest things you wouldn’t normally consider food to sop it all up.
This is about the time you realize absolutely nothing in your closet fits and your husband’s sweatpants are not appropriate attire for the office.
For years, I have been saying that Canadian Thanksgiving is the real holiday and the Americans have it all wrong, but now I’m starting to think putting off the feasting season until Nov. 24 would spare me a few pounds.
If you read health or fitness websites, they will tell you to back off the holiday food and try not to gain the typical seven pounds over the holiday season but I say eat up!
It wouldn’t be the holidays without all the amazing food that comes with it. Besides, if you didn’t gain the weight, what would your New Year’s resolution be?
