Healthful Holidays

A lot of people ask me how I stay so fit. I'm happy to share some lifestyle tips.

Drink 8 glasses of water each day. It's so good for you! Your body is made of water so you need to replenish it. My body is made of Diet Coke so I replenish it with that. Everyone is different. Know your body. The gas station by my house sells 25 cent refills on Tuesdays. That's important to know too.

Eat snacks with protein because protein is so good for you! Protein helps you and fills you up. Personally, I avoid protein because I don't want to be full because I hate that uncomfortable "full" feeling, especially when my mom passes me a bowl of these truffles she makes with graham cracker crumbs, chocolate chips, and Cool Whip.

More about snacks: They should be low-fat and high-fiber where "low-fat" is exotic soft and "high fiber" is cheeses. Whole wheat crackers are an excellent pairing but you might find that they taste bad. Stick with Ritz.

The holidays are the absolute WORST for gaining weight. Have a plan. And have a support person who is interested in eating healthy food with you. Fill up on crudites. Of course, I never eat vegetables except for mashed potatoes and rarely eat fruit unless it is served with Cool Whip because I get embarrassed when I eat salad or raw vegetables because I think that people will think that I think I need to lose weight. I would never draw attention to myself like that. Christian is my support person and supports me when my plate is too heavy for me to carry. We have had a lot of success in meeting our goals over the holidays. One of our goals this year is to eat Thanksgiving lunch at his parents' house and Thanksgiving dinner at my mom's house. We visualize ourselves doing this successfully before we even set out to do it. Here's to success!

I have milk delivered weekly from my local dairy. I just can't tolerate the hormones and what have you that you'll find in grocery store milk. My dairy also delivers donuts and chocolate-covered cinnamon bears. You can get good chocolate-covered cinnamon bears at the BYU candy store, but they are hard to find elsewhere. And forgive me for getting up on my soap box here but I just can't stand donuts made with growth hormone. It's something I have chosen not to compromise on.

Trouble with portion control? Memorize this "handy" trick: Your fist equals a serving size of anything. This isn't exactly accurate--it kind of depends on how tightly you are grasping your fries. But it's a good rule of "thumb!"

It's all about arming yourself with information so you can make healthy choices. For example, whenever you have the opportunity to choose bacon, you should choose bacon. Bacon absorbs fat. It's an important part of any healthy diet. This may sound like an old wives' tale but think about it: Have you ever seen a skinny pig? Exactly.

And finally, the most important thing to do over the holidays is to really think about why you are eating. It can be harmful to eat for emotional reasons excluding happiness, joy, depression, or boredom--we all know we get into trouble when we're bored! Stave off boredom with a low-fat, high fiber snack (see above).

Good luck over the holidays, friends. We're all in this together!