the holiday weight debate

There are really two schools of thought when it comes to the holidays. Those who preach moderation during this special time of the year. Indulging in your favorite foods, if only for a little bite, but having them nonetheless.

The other school of thought, is that this is the proverbial 'get out of jail free' card, which entitles you to let loose and gorge yourself on anything and everything in sight, whilst washing it down with a fabulous cocktail.

In all honestly, I've probably spent most of my life falling into the latter group.

My ultimate weakness is nibbles. I would rather skip all my meals, so long as I can enjoy dips and finger food. In fact, I think this is yet another example of how I'm destined to live in Spain (tapas, wine, sangrias, siestas, yep - all my favorite things!), but that's another story.

This year, I tried a different approach. Gasp, I actually practiced moderation - my Dad would be so proud! Now don't get me wrong, I'm not going to pretend that I had a lick of dessert and not a serving. Oh no, I indulged, but I was cautious, dare I say careful even, about my portion sizes. I didn't over pile my plate, go in for seconds, etc.

The result is that I gained 3 lbs over two weeks. Considering this year was Christmas in England (land of stodgy, filling food), I chalk this down as a minor victory.

Traditional English Christmas Dinner

Even better, is I've already lost 2.5 of the 3lbs!

So while the holidays come but once a year, its not as if I'm starving myself the rest of the year and saving up for them. No, so I think from here on out I'm going to go with the moderation approach.

Maybe this just means I'm finally maturing?