Boots McBlog

With Thanksgiving 2010 now a mere memory,  we can expect the plethora of holiday treats all around us to multiply – from the parties held by families and friends, to the casual breakroom get togethers, to those once-a-year specialities. Surviving all of the fetes with minimal to no damage to your waistline  can be quite a feat.   Last week, the kind folks at KHTV asked me don my nutritionist hat  to share how we can beat the bulge through the holidays.   In case you missed it, here are my tips wrapped up here.

Plan to MOVE

Know the special events on your schedule.   Will you be dashing from work to a holiday party?    Will you be eating or drinking a few more glasses of punch or wine than a normal night?    If so,  then it is more important than ever to keep up your exercise routine.  Make exercise a priority in your holiday schedule.   It not only will help you keep that trim waistline,  it will also help to defuse any holiday tension.

At the office,  take the stairs as much as possible.   Let’s face it,  when Suzy Cream Puff brings in her great grandmother’s world famous divinity,  are you really going to say, “no, thank you”?     Probably not.   If you have ADDED taking the stairs to your usual exercise routine, then you can help offset those extra calories.   ( not to mention, you’ll get a headstart  - You’ll own that stairwell when all those mamby jamby resolutionists arrive in January) .   For those of you not in a formal office building,  take the stairs wherever you are  - in the mall, at the church, in the hospital   and choose a far away parking place.   Don’t grumble when someone gets that up close spot.  Come 2011,  you’ll be fitting in your skinny jeans and you’ll be thankful.

Incorporate new traditions of activity with family or friends.  Many towns have holiday races/5ks, sign up to be part of one.  Set up a team of friends or family to join you.  This is something new I’ve added to my list of holiday cheer this year.  I’ve loved talking gifts, shopping, recipes while running with my girlfriends.  And I know we are going to be excited when we cross that finish line in a few weeks.

Not up for a race ?  Even easier, ask a favorite family member to go on a “walk and talk” to catch up after or before your holiday meal (s).

Don’t Chug the Calories!

Calories from that extra drink add up. A glass of wine (4 oz) contains the same amount of calories as a cookie. Mixed cocktails and eggnog can contain as many calories as piece of pie or cake. At parties, eating lots of rich foods and consuming more alcohol than usual can easily pack on a pound (3500 calories) in one night / week  of over consumption.   Also be mindful of how much wine you are being served per glass.   A serving size of wine is half a cup (4 oz),  today most restaurants are serving 8-12 oz which can be a whopping 300 calories.     Most of us wouldn’t reach for ANOTHER dessert at a party.  Keep this in mind when you are filling yourself with the spirits of the holiday.

Also think twice about those tasty holiday coffee drinks that show up this time of year.   From lattes spiked with pumpkin, eggnog, or peppermint,  a medium drink made with 2% milk and whip cream can add up to an extra 500 calories to your day.  Some hot chocolates can boast as much if not more calories.   They may be in liquid form going down, but too many will show up  in a solid jiggle in your middle if you down too many of these a week.

Great NEWS!

If you are reading this article, that is a step in the right direction.  Those who are most concerned with gaining weight over the holidays are most successful at beating the bulge.  So, keep it up.    When attending or hosting a holiday party, offer healthy options such as  baked apples for dessert.  Try hummus dip with fresh veggies or Roasted veggie skewers.   Be the guest to bring the healthy option to a party.   While some folks may snicker or mock the healthy holiday,  I guarantee you,  there will be others standing around thankful for lighter option.    We’ll also be the ones with less rolls when January 1 rolls around.

Speaking of rolls,  while rumors have circulated that holiday weight gain can range from 5-25 pounds over these decadent days,  the truth is most folks average a pound weight gain.   A pound!   We are getting all worked up about a pound?   Well, yes,  we should.   According to researchers,  it’s this one pound that we don’t stress over and it stays with us from the holidays all the year through.  Until next holiday when we add  another pound.  Before you know it,  we’re staring down our forties with an extra 10 pounds wondering from where it came.   THis my friends is what I consider the scary ghost of Christmas past.

Starting today,  we can make our plans to navigate the holiday parties and fare with success.   Get moving / Keep moving.   Skip those extra cocktails and coffee drinks.   Choose health.   It is the best gift you can give yourself and others this season.   Not to mention,  we’ll be on track to hang out with the very posh Ghost of  Christmas Future….you know the ghost who likes to show everyone pics from Summer vacation where we rocked our swimsuits.

Each morning I start with a prayer and a tweet.  At month’s end,  I compile them here.   Enjoy!

Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.  Psalm 95:2

There’s an old hymn we used to sing in the stoic church where I grew up.   It was one of those songs on Sunday night’s when the music minister would do “open hymn” night and let the congregation choose our songs that would be at the top of the list.   It had a happy beat  ( although we did NOT dance to it).  The pace of the song slowed at the end for dramatic effect before picking back up in speed.   The words went something like this.

Count your blessings

Count them one by one

Count your blessings, see what God has done

Count your blessings.

Count them.

one.

by.

one.

Count your many blessings, see what God has done.

This past year has been an interesting journey for me, to say the least.   I began my “rest” /  ”creative sabbatical”   about this time last year.   I had no idea what would happen.   I just knew I wasn’t going to be the one in control this time.   You see,  on this date TWO years ago today,  I was sitting in Chicago across from a guy named Morty.    Morty had invited my creative director and me  to his packaging showroom to discuss a new product line of paper goods which would be part of the re-brand for the company which hired me to do a complete overhaul of it’s image.  This new job for me was supposed to be all travel, all glamour.  Except,  here I was across from Morty.  He had promised to provide lunch as part of our visit.   He did.  It was corned beef on white bread which he made himself in the company breakroom and he presented it  to us on a styrofoam plate.   My creative director and I were slightly stunned.   We had envisioned a steak at Ruth Cris.  I would’ve even taken the soup and salad at the Olive Garden at this point. he continued to amuse us.  He asked if we wanted a pickle on the side.  How nice he was providing options.  And then Morty made us split (yes, split!)  a kosher dill spear.   My friend and I did everything in our power to not laugh.  We created a new definition for being “morty-fied”   The next day the trip continued much along this path.   I often checked for hidden cameras in our rental car.  I was convinced we  were trapped in a Wes Anderson film.    One thing for certain – this job was not glamorous, nor was it a good fit.   I knew in the brief time I had been on staff,  the job was sucking the life out of me.  One breath at a time.

I returned home.   My boss and I agreed to “mutually separate”.  I suddenly found myself in a place I had never been since college – without a job.   I panicked.   The very next day,  a good friend invited me to oversee development and marketing for a local non-profit.   It seemed like a good fit on paper, at least the part of the paper I could see.  It took nine months to figure out what was on the rest of that paper,  So, it was a YEAR ago today,  I sat in a board room revealing the brutal facts with a board of directors.   Our cause was good.  The economy was not.   Our needs were high.  Our donations were low.   To be good stewards of what we had been gifted,  I recommended  we close the doors and donate our remaining funds to research.    I was without a job – again.    This time I did something different.  I didn’t call a bunch of people to find the next gig.  Part of me wanted to be angry, victimized, sad, bitter, for all the things the last two years had thrown my way  which had not gone according to plan.   Except…those emotions took too much energy.  I was tired.   Instead, I prayed.  I really really really really prayed.    In the way that only the  Holy Spirit moves, I could hear God say in my heart, “be still”

In my stillness this past year,  I’ve spent more time hanging out with God.  I’ve studied the scripture more.  I’ve prayed more.   In June , I had the opportunity to learn how to take my new study habits and turn it into a talk to encourage others.   In the class I was taking,  I was assigned the passage of Matthew 5: 1-12 to present as my topic.     Matthew 5:1-12 is the Beatitudes – that  long list of paradoxical verses.  Blesssed are the Poor.  Blessed are the meek.  Blessed are the hungry.  Although I had read those verses a hundred times previously in my life,  suddenly  they dug into my heart and reflected every experience I had been through with my jobs, my volunteer commitments, and in my personal struggles the past two years.   After I shared my talk with my classmates and the class was dismissed,  my friend approached me to share it on a grander scale with the women in our church.   This was God’s way of keeping me firmly planted in these verses from June until September.    In addition to the talk I presented in September,  I was asked to co-lead a bible study.   The study was …. you guessed it – The Beatitudes.   God clearly wanted me to learn this lesson.   June through November he has had me firmly planted in this sermon he gave on a no name hill.

Today,  - two years after meeting Morty,  one year after that board meeting, and  year of resting,   I “get” these verses in a way I never have before understood them in my life.  I know better what it means to be blessed. As I count my blessings this year,  I am, of course, thankful for family, friends, shelter, food,  air,  flowers, shoes,  dresses, music and  laughter.  More than these, I am thankful  for the blessings of:

being at the end of my rope

losing what I thought was most dear to me

being content with just who I am

having a good appetite – for God

caring for others

getting my inside world (my heart and mind)  right

for the opportunity to help others cooperate instead of compete

for having friends distance themselves from me or losing friendships altogether because of my faith

This Thanksgiving,  I am seeing more clearly what God has done and is doing in my life.   I’m counting these blessings one. by. one.

The Beatitudes ~  Matthew 1-12 (the message)

When Jesus saw his ministry drawing huge crowds, he climbed a hillside. Those who were apprenticed to him, the committed, climbed with him. Arriving at a quiet place, he sat down and taught his climbing companions. This is what he said:

³“You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.

⁴“You’re blessed when you feel you’ve lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.

⁵“You’re blessed when you’re content with just who you are—no more, no less. That’s the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can’t be bought.

⁶“You’re blessed when you’ve worked up a good appetite for God. He’s food and drink in the best meal you’ll ever eat.

⁷“You’re blessed when you care. At the moment of being ‘care-full,’ you find yourselves cared for.

⁸“You’re blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.

⁹“You’re blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That’s when you discover who you really are, and your place in God’s family.

¹⁰“You’re blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God’s kingdom.

^11-12“Not only that—count yourselves blessed every time people put you down or throw you out or speak lies about you to discredit me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and they are uncomfortable. You can be glad when that happens—give a cheer, even!—for though they don’t like it, I do! And all heaven applauds. And know that you are in good company. My prophets and witnesses have always gotten into this kind of trouble.

Happy Thanksgiving, Y’all.   Grace to each of you.

There are a few days left before we begin the dash into Christmas cheer and glittery winter.   I encourage you to take these next days of thankfulness to find rest and  soak in the splendor of this glorious season.

The Autumn
Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Go, sit upon the lofty hill,
And turn your eyes around,
Where waving woods and waters wild
Do hymn an autumn sound.
The summer sun is faint on them —
The summer flowers depart —
Sit still — as all transform’d to stone,
Except your musing heart.

How there you sat in summer-time,
May yet be in your mind;
And how you heard the green woods sing
Beneath the freshening wind.
Though the same wind now blows around,
You would its blast recall;
For every breath that stirs the trees,
Doth cause a leaf to fall.

Oh! like that wind, is all the mirth
That flesh and dust impart:
We cannot bear its visitings,
When change is on the heart.
Gay words and jests may make us smile,
When Sorrow is asleep;
But other things must make us smile,
When Sorrow bids us weep!

The dearest hands that clasp our hands, —
Their presence may be o’er;
The dearest voice that meets our ear,
That tone may come no more!
Youth fades; and then, the joys of youth,
Which once refresh’d our mind,
Shall come — as, on those sighing woods,
The chilling autumn wind.

Hear not the wind — view not the woods;
Look out o’er vale and hill —
In spring, the sky encircled them —
The sky is round them still.
Come autumn’s scathe — come winter’s cold —
Come change — and human fate!
Whatever prospect Heaven doth bound,
Can ne’er be desolate.