Made It to the New Year

I'm pleased to announce that my slow-go plan is working and I didn't gain any weight over the Christmas holidays.

Despite spending a week at my Mom and Dad's and oh my goodness, Mom can cook!

How did I do it?

Well, I avoided loading up with the cakes, cookies, pies, candy, nuts, etc. between meals. At mealtimes, I didn't use a lot of extras like gravy and butter. I loaded up with salads and vegetables.

As my supervisor told me, quoting her own yoga instructor when members of the class were whining about weight gain over the holidays. Paraphasing: "That's only 2 days out of the year. If you eat right the other 363, you shouldn't gain weight."

Ouch. A truth that we hate to face.

In the end, it is all about the individual choices that we make every single day. Do we choose a cookie or a carrot? Well, the reality is that you can eat the whole bag of baby carrots and still take in fewer calories than those in one cookie! And don't discount the fiber, vitamins and other healthy parts of carrots.

So while there will be those who poo-poo my 9 pounds lost since I started following a tortoise plan, a loss is a loss is a loss. It's all good.

So if I can double that loss over the next year, then I'm doing great! If I can triple it, I'm just about at goal.

But stop, let me not look too far ahead. This is an ounce-by-ounce process and moderation is key.

Moderation, the word of the year.

Moderation in all things -- including my eating habits.