course meals. The adult beverages will be flowing during
the month-long attendance of Halloween parties, not to
mention Thanksgiving followed by another holiday meal
three weeks later. In between the calendar holidays, there
will be holiday parties or end-of-the-year celebrations
at work, and the baked goods and potluck dishes are
going to put any meal into caloric overload. We work
hard to maintain our physique and health throughout
the year, and now it’s time for the payoff. Time to cheat-
eat, drink and be merry! While we know it’s going to
be hard to keep extra weight gain from happening over
the upcoming celebrations, we know it’s possible to
keep it to a minimum if we are mindfully eating, being
attentive to portion sizes, continuing to be physically
active, and hiding treats in difficult to reach locations.
Diving into chips with creamy spinach artichoke dip
washed down with a few brews for the next few weekends
can rack up quite the additional calories, but the good
news is that if we took that one day and made carbon
copies of that day’s food consumption to repeat every
day for the next five weeks, the scale would start tipping
upwards. Leading up to Thanksgiving, the feast of all
feasts, there might be at least three other dinners to
celebrate Thanksgiving with work, neighborhood and
friend circles, and we certainly are going to enjoy the
offerings without care. These occasions are to be enjoyed,
as there aren’t many times these same people will come
together, for one reason or another, so it’s good to take
advantage of the moment when the opportunity arises.
Just as these momentous gatherings occur, so should
mindful eating continue to be a part of our consuming
regimen. Take for instance a buffet that has all sorts of
offerings for dessert. This may include a gelatin square
with whipped cream, yet the homemade, gooey pecan pie
with real whipped cream is usually on the no-fly menu,
and we certainly want the rich stuff instead of some
pathetic jiggly stand-in dessert. The conscious thought
of deciding to indulge in pie was choosing through a
conscious decision, the application of which can go as
deep as being aware of the amount of processed food we
consume. Our bodies weren’t meant to process so much
food that laden with preservatives and ingredients we can’t
pronounce readily, so keeping this on the radar helps to
curb consumption to items that fulfill our heart’s desire.
times the portion given on the calorie count. This is also
true for the bottles of flavored tea, soda and fruit juices,
which means we are consuming about three times what
the portion size is. Essentially we are indulging in more
calories than we’d prefer when it comes down to the brass
tacks of what we’d rather spend our calories on. Think
of the calories in terms of a daily amount to be spent
according to how many calories of actual intake will be an
eye opener. There is always room for the treats by spreading
out caloric intake in small portions, and with other foods
that are lower in calories so more can be consumed and
we aren’t starving. Realize that the goal is not to exceed
the daily calorie allowance, so spend calorie counts wisely.
Exercise of all sorts can serve the body well, when
performed mindfully and being attentive to joints and
muscle fatigue. The more physically active we are now,
the smoother aging on the body will be, as keeping things
moving prevents tightening of muscle groups that are
not asked to perform frequently. Use it or lose it! Since
we want to scarf up chocolate-covered almonds, every
variety of cookies decked out with amazing artistic
icing, and sweet potato pie with marshmallows lightly
Even if we haven’t reached “ripped” in the adjective list to
describe our bodies, we are learning to be more mindful
of the foods we eat. A good place to start learning what
we can chow down on that satisfies our hunger coupled
with cravings is getting familiar with food labels. The first
thing we are prone to look at is the calorie count, but fail to
notice that count pertains to the portion size. Frequently,
the crinkly wrapper that makes cats come running is not
the actual portion, instead it may contain two to three
NOVEMBER 2018
|
WINTER GARDEN MAGAZINE |
33