Friday, October 29, 2010

Spooky, Scary and Fun!

With Halloween upon us, we all know we are entering the zone of temptation between now and New Years day! It is time to navigate the land mines of holiday parties and celebrations including Halloween candy, Thanksgiving gorging, Hanukah and Christmas feasting and New Years extravaganzas!

My goal this year is to get through this plethora of temptation with the mantra of "keep it healthy"! If you think about it, orange is the color of Halloween and carrots are orange, pumpkins are orange, sweet potatos are orange....there are plenty of healthy options that we can enjoy and still make healthy choices. For Thanksgiving the same is true! Roast turkey is one of the healthiest things we can eat! All of the fall veges taste amazing when they are roasted in the oven with a drizzle of olive oil and sprinkle of sea salt. With Hanukah and Christmas, there are tons of options to incude in the food part of celebrating, most all of them can be made very healthy!

OK, I'll admit it...we all have a trigger....something that is at the top of the list entitled: "OMG - this is so freaking good that I simply must indulge"! What is at the top of your list? I came face to face with mine last weekend (inset spooky scary music here please).....I was shopping with my glorious gorgeous amazing 15 year old niece. We went to The Cheesecake Factory for dinner. Knowing I was in a danger zone, I did not have any bread/butter, I skipped a glass of wine, I ordered a salad (hold the cheese, croutons and dressing). I enjoyed the salad because I know I wanted to taste the pumpkin cheesecake! You may know that it is only available seasonably around this time. So I seized the opportunity to indulge. My niece said it was one of the best things she had ever tasted. Thankfully, she ate most of the piece. I did, however, enjoy my 3 forkfuls of heavenly pumpkiny delicious rich and smooth pumpkin cheesecake. I did not feel guilty because I had planned for a successful indulgence. Planinng for success is the key!

So, know when to hold 'em. when to fold 'em and when to walk away (thank you Kenny Rogers!)!

Desire to intelligently indulge. Dedication to thoughtful celebrations. Discipline to plan for a healthy holiday season!

1 comment:

  1. Hahahah! You worked in a Kenny Rogers quote! I love the idea of food colors-in-season for inspiration! I'm craving an orange bell pepper, now!

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