Planning For Next Year's Food Clutter

It's official. I stepped on the scale 2 days ago. Not only do my legs barely squeeze into my jeans and my butt look a mile wide - I have the proof in the pounds, too!

I hate the holiday season in the food aspect. OK, no, I lied. I LOVE the holiday season in the food aspect, I hate the holiday season in the weight aspect! When it comes to sweets, I have no self-control. I spend November and December completely enjoying myself, eating whatever I want, whenever I want, and then January through October getting my weight back down.

Why does H-O-L-I-D-A-Y spell bake? The food clutter (scroll down to food prep and storage) in my home, the homes I visit is insane! It really is clutter, too, because it's such excess. Its way more than needed, it's a crowded mass of food everywhere!

If it's in my home I'll eat it. If it's put in front of me, I'll eat it. Does anyone else suffer from this lack of self-control holiday disorder? I really don't have trouble any other time of year - even the summer potluck picnics! It’s very much like holiday spending.

I know this year is a little late to reconcile the 59 pounds of food I've eaten in the last week, but I'm thinking about next year. I'm going to roll out a plan, how about you?

What can we do?

Give yourself a limit. Decide to only bake a certain amount, allow yourself a certain amount of X at your neighbor's party. Just like having a spending budget - a pre-planned giving list.

Don't be too hard on yourself. Remember we are all human and will have set-backs. Don't think about what you should have done, go forward; what can you do now?

Keep a journal. Sometimes just seeing in writing all the food intake can help keep it minimal. You might even track caloric intake. Same thing with gifts, write down the gift and the amount spent. Total things up (and claiming you are no good in math is not an excuse for an incorrect (low) answer! LOL! ).

Exercise more. Add to your workouts. If you normally walk a mile, do a mile and a half. If you normally do the Stairmaster for 20 minutes, do 30. If you normally don't do anything - do something! Even taking the stairs versus the elevator, parking farther out, shoveling versus snow blowing, getting up and getting the phone yourself instead of hollering for the kids to get answer it.

Just imagine… if we all did these things as a collective, how much less food there'd be to begin with?!

Posted December 27, 2007, filed in It's That Time, Clutter Control Products, Less is More