On The Diet Side: One Way We Gain Weight Over the Holidays

I ate the right amount of food on Thanksgiving Day. But, between Thanksgiving and Christmas, I gained 6-7 pounds. One bad habit I exercise during the holidays (besides exercising less over the holidays) is skipping a meal and partaking of goodies I'm baking for others as a Christmas gift. The Pumpkin Roll is my favorite to make and deliver.

This year my son's girlfriend, Carissa, helped me mix, bake, and frost ten Pumpkin Rolls. I skipped lunch that day in the excitement of getting started. Richard and Carissa have been "going out" at school for just a short time--since Senior Day--and she's been to our house a few times to talk, watch movies and play games. She's even eaten dinner with us and helped with the dishes. We've talked about her job and my nano book, but this was our first time doing anything together, just the two of us. And, she's not an avid baker, either.

I was surprised at her confidence in helping me. She was constantly at the ready, willing and able. She mixed, measured, coated pans, rolled, and filled, all within earshot of my son; so, we couldn't talk about him! But, we worked fast, and within two hours we'd finished the ten rolls. She's a sweetheart for sticking with me from beginning to end.

One of the tricks I taught her surprised her, I think. After we'd frosted the inside of the first roll with the cream cheese filling, or frosting--whatever you want to call it--I showed her how to slice the roll down the middle, but just a touch to the left. Then, I showed her how to slice the roll just one inch over from that first cut. That inside piece, "Well, that's ours to eat," I said (unless you're giving someone the entire 15 inch roll). So, we slid that extra piece onto a plate, cut it in half, and then gobbled it up! She fell in love from the first taste on, as we cut each roll and shared the center slice. It was marvelous! Now, if she only wasn't 17. But who knows? Maybe this first love will last.

In the meantime, you can imagine how many center slices we shared and consumed. A normal lunch for me in Weight Watcher points ranges from about 3-5 points. Examples would be a microwaved small red potato with a half an avocado mushed into it, or a slice of Orowheat bread with avocado spread across it (or plain peanut butter with banana or Trader Joe's Tapenade)--something like that--with either fruit or a couple of carrots and some sweet snap peas. In contrast, all that Pumpkin Roll with thick cream cheese filling must add up to around a total day's worth of points. Hence, that's how we easily gain weight during the holidays. We skip a meal thinking we'll just eat the goodie, but the goodie adds a full day's points, or a full day's calories, to our total (Hey, an In and Out shake is 17 points, and a tablespoon of buttercream frosting is 3 points or 1 point per teaspoon...Yikes!) In points, the goodie puts us way over the edge, and if we do that often enough during the holidays, well, then we end up walking around in tight jeans and skirts.

I hope you enjoyed this explanation of one way we gain weight over the holidays. To lose weight, just eat a bowl of cabbage soup for one or two meals, daily, over the next couple of weeks. It'll fall right off.