Sensible Fitness

at 11:33 AM

I LOVE Thanksgiving! I love not having to get up too early (about 3 am on weekdays) to go workout. The gym didn't open until 6 am on Thanksgiving so sleeping until 5:15 or so was sleeping in for me and it felt great!! I love being around my family and if it's chilly getting a fire going and drinking some good coffee. The entire day is a dream for me and it goes by so fast and when Friday comes around I find myself reliving the Thursday moments. My mother, a phenomenal cook, does not do stuffing the American way. She actually stuffs the turkey with fruits (prunes, apples slices, pear slices), walnut pieces, raisins and Basmati rice. Once the guests taste the stuffing, it is gone in no time.
Yes, there's a catch. What do I not like about this wonderfully cozy holiday? It's TOO much about food! What other time during the year do we have this much food, wine or dessert? Do I think it may be a little gluttonous? Yea! We don't need to eat that much stuffing and other corn infused dishes plus three pieces of pie to have a great time with our families. And let's not forget that the latest research suggests that when we are in the company of others we eat more. But what we need to do is to uncouple the idea of being with our family and friends from over eating. When Friday afternoon rolled around, I asked my mom who is always watching her weight if she wanted to eat a slice of pie and jokingly said, 'you can cheat a little today'; to which she answered, 'if I cheat today, I will cheat tomorrow.' This smart and very appropriate response sums up everything I wanted to say in this section. Our years are filled with Thanksgivings, birthdays, Christmases and all other celebrations we manage to overeat at.