Weekly Meeting Topic: Holiday Traditions

(sorry this post is a night late, I got sidetracked last night after the meeting...)

This week we talked about the upcoming holidays and the role that traditions play in the holidays. We likely all have some family traditions that we look forward to (or perhaps not) and those traditions could be getting in the way of your short term and long term goals, not to mention your mental well-being. But the great thing is that traditions have to start somewhere, and you can create *new* traditions - healthy traditions that will help you this and every year going forward. Take some time to evaluate your current traditions and see which ones you'd consider changing or eliminating and what new ones you'd like to incorporate instead.

I don't celebrate holidays so this isn't such a challenge for me. But my meeting members discussed some new traditions they were considering this year that will help them in their journey. These were some suggestions, but I'm sure they'll spark some of your own ideas:

• Instead of sitting on the couch watching sports and/or eating more, start a tradition of doing something physical like going out for a walk. (One member said he was going to walk around the neighborhood and look at some of the holiday lights and decorations. I thought that was a great idea!)
• If you have a good group of people at your holiday gathering and want to stay indoors, you can spend some time playing games. Give your body a chance to digest and keep your mind active instead of your mouth.
  
• Have something to look forward to *other* than food - like catching up with the friends or relatives you haven't seen in a while; and if you're going away - enjoying the sights and experiences of another city.
• Create a tradition to work out before your holiday event. It will help keep you focused and earn you some activity points.
  

I think the important points to remember are:

• As my leader pointed out, it's a HoliDAY - not a holiweek or holimonth.Keep it to the one day.
• Keep the focus OFF the food. Yes, the food will be there in abundance, possibly calling you by name. Perhaps some of those foods are only available this time of year. If that's the case and you want to enjoy them, then go ahead - as responsibly and aware as possible. I do not believe in depriving yourself - you should enjoy those special foods if that's what you want to do. But that food should not be the focus of the day - the event, company and venue should be.
  
• And like I always say, no matter what happens, remember that you can restart at any time - don't wait for January 1st or December 1st or next Monday. Start over at that next meal. The sooner you restart, the less damage you do. In fact, if you catch yourself fast enough, chances are it won't even show up at the scale.
  

Now for my weekly questions-

What did I accomplish this week?

• I tracked 3 days. That's shy of my 4 day goal and less than half the week but like I always remind myself - tracking *something* is better than tracking nothing.
• I took vitamins 5/7 days (this is still a challenge for me!)
  
• I learned I really do not like kale. I am going to stop buying it and look for other ways to get my iron. In fact, I started using spinach and arugula in my super salad. I especially like the arugula and am going to make it that way from now on.
• I followed through on TWIET (Tweet what I eat Tuesday)
• A friend of mine that I hadn't seen at the gym in a few months saw me in punk rope tonight and he commented on how great I was running! He called me a track star! That was a huge compliment - he didn't know I recently started running, so for him to notice the difference and tell me meant a lot. Thanks, JJ!
  

What do I want to work towards next week?

• I still have not had time to program my new sneakers with my iPod! Or use them on the treadmill! I will definitely do that before next Tuesday night's blog.
• I will continue to work on tracking. My goal is to tack 100% of at least 4 days and at least *some* of the other 3 days. I know this will help me and I need to do it.
• I will make my doctor appointment that I mentioned last week (I've worked a ton of hours since last Wednesday and have not had time to pick a day off and make an appt but I will do it tomorrow or Friday)
• Next week William and I will get back to our 3 days a week gym schedule (and my stair workout). That was also a to do for this week but it's not going to happen because we're still dealing with a very hectic workload this week. We've had no time for lunch. (Speaking of no time- my Wii arrived and I have not had time to even unpack it yet!)

Have a great week, everyone! :)