Cushion

That sounds nice a soft and cozy for this time of year, right? Well, today I'm thinking about cushions. When I got on the scale this morning, I realized that my cushion-y body was a little less so today -- down almost 3 pounds. Now I'm back in a range to get this party started again after Christmas. That is...if I stay here at this poundage. Which, clearly, is not guaranteed since this is "that" time of year. So at least I have a cushion if I eat really poorly next week.

This week I maintained my equilibrium by watching and making up for when I ate something "bad". For example: on a day when I had my piece of Godiva (two days this week, actually), I cut back elsewhere in my calories for that day. Now, you may have seen Vickie's comment about cutting out good nutrition in order to make up for "bad" food. And she's right. This is clearly not ideal. However, I am aware that I am a person who would feel extremely resentful if I did not have at least a few "treats" at Christmas. I understand everyone else can't/doesn't operate this way, but for me it is essential to figure out how I get through the holidays happy and not outrageously off the wagon. This week, this is what worked FOR ME. :-)

My plan for the rest of the holiday season is to do the same: basically eat less of what I usually do to make up for extra "treaty" calories that I want to enjoy. This just means being extra Drastic at meals where I am not in my usual place. This is how I can still stay in control. At least it is how I PLAN to stay in control... ;-)

I baked a bunch of cookies this week to give away and also made a dish for our staff potluck lunch today (wild rice salad...probably will be the healthiest thing there!). The cookies that I made with applesauce instead of Crisco came out ok -- they don't have the real look or texture of the "real" cookies I have made in the past, but they taste pretty good. I would definitely make things this way for my own and my family's consumption. Probably would NOT for gift-giving just because they are not as luscious as I think Christmas cookies "need" to be! Yeah, I know...

I did NOT lick the mixers or taste more than a tiny bite of any of the cookies. This is fairly easy for me because I am not a real sweet person (not that I don't like my sweets, but they are not a binge food). I was proud of myself for this. It probably is a first.

Last night I got totally frustrated with being a girly girl when it comes to cars: a couple of people had mentioned that my tires looked low. I couldn't see it myself and since I have an appointment to go in to the dealership for scheduled service tomorrow I thought I could wait. Then I looked again and they did look low so I went to the filling station to try to fix. I borrowed a tire gauge (couldn't find mine) that sucked. Measured (in the dark), filled, measured some more. Spent double on the air that I should have had to. I'm still not sure if my tires are at 15 psi or 40. Can't they make tires that don't have these problems!! Thank God DB is home tomorrow...how did I ever deal without him?! (Answer: I never ever checked my tires unless they were totally flat.)

Tonight I am going with a few friends to work with a charity that distributes food boxes to the poor/disadvantaged for Christmas. We will be working at a huge hangar at the local airport and putting the boxes together and packing them up to be distributed this weekend. I am really looking forward to this. This year, more than ever, I am getting pleasure from helping those who are less fortunate than me. It gives me an amazing feeling of...LOVE.

Then tomorrow I have to get a bang trim, gym, buy last-minute gifts, take my car in then celebrate with some friends for dinner tomorrow night. Sunday is similar: gym, bake cake to take to Yule celebration Sunday night, Yule celebration then dinner with some other friends. Next week: more cookies for DB and Mommy. :-)

I love Christmas. And I love it more when I'm 20 pounds less than I was last Christmas! ;-)