I gained weight over the holidays, of course. It was unavoidable. I tried to be sensible when eating out, but what was I going to do, waste a whole takeout box on the last two bites? So I just ate them. And dessert. There are a lot of restaurants that serve pie. I also made pie for Christmas. And cheesecake. And we had to eat the Christmas dinner leftovers before they went bad - between meals out.
But now, the holidays are over. Egg nog is being liquidated from the stores, and I don't have enough visitors now to justify baking desserts. I have time to exercise again. I'm back at work, where I pack a sensible lunch every day...and where there are sugary treats brought in for every conceivable occasion nearly every day. And if there isn't some form of baked goods lying around, there's always the vending machine.
I want to lose these holiday pounds, really. Professional dietitians tout food diaries as a simple and effective weight loss tool. Keep a journal, pinpoint where your extra calories are coming from. Here's mine: Breakfast - cereal, small piece of cake. Lunch - Grilled cheese sandwich, slice of pie. Snack - Chewy Chips Ahoy, 15 random individual chocolates picked from the open candy jars on my coworkers' desks. Dinner - pasta, Snickers bar. Hmm, or Peanut M&Ms. Or Snickers bar. Peanut M&Ms? Or Snickers?
See, dietitians? At least I'm writing it down.
