Welcome, Welcome, Share This Feast

(song: Thanksgiving Song/artist: Mary Chapin Carpenter)

I love this time of year! Thanksgiving is tomorrow and I am so excited to share the day with my husband's family. There's just "a feeling" in the air that makes me happy from Thanksgiving to New Year's Eve. You know that feeling? It's especially magical here in New York City. And having a kid, well, pure bliss.

Tomorrow, as I did last year, I'm going to run my local 5-mile Turkey Trot. A great way to start a holiday that's centered around eating. It's going to be freezing - literally - so I'm less concerned with my pace and more concerned about not dropping dead. I did a test run in 28 degree temps on Monday so I have a good idea what I'm getting myself into. Insane, I know...

My contribution to tomorrow's feast is cranberry relish. I made it - YES, I cooked! - using a recipe that I borrowed from my friend Chris, a.ka. Domestic Daddy. It was so easy and bucks tradition by adding bold spices like cardamom and cloves, and jalapenos. 

Easy and delicious!

You can find the recipe here. My only substitute was organic coconut sugar instead of white sugar. It's so tasty and - most importantly to me - took less than one hour from prep to clean-up. In fact it would have been even less time if I hadn't stopped to take photos and let my son "help". But hey, this time of year is all about sharing the love and working side-by-side with my son was so special.

My sous chef.

Enjoy your Thanksgiving (and Hanukkah if applicable) and don't stress out about overeating. There's a 95% chance you're going to eat too much. If you're just starting a healthy lifestyle, try one small little change, like skipping the sweet potatoes with marshmallows or not having seconds. Depriving yourself on your first holiday will only make you miserable and will likely drive you to binge eat secretly after everyone has gone to bed. (Not that I have any experience with that...) Also, DO NOT SKIP BREAKFAST TOMORROW! Don't "save your calories" until Thanksgiving dinner. Eat a regular breakfast and lunch on Thanksgiving, at the same time you normally would eat these meals and you'll likely eat less calories overall than you would if you skipped the meals. And if that doesn't workout, at least you won't be a cranky b$tch by feast time. If you've been living healthy for awhile now, don't be stupid tomorrow. Your stomach will revolt and you'll spend all of Friday on the toilet. M'kay?

Now, go forth and give thanks and ENJOY YOURSELF! xoxo

Something Evil's Lurkin' In the Dark

(song: Thriller/artist: Michael Jackson)

Well shit y'all, Halloween is tomorrow and you know what that means. CANDY! Candy everywhere. I have spoken of my weakness for candy and sugar in past posts. And though I have better control now, I still struggle with this addiction. Put me in front of a box of Milk Duds and I won't come up for air till all those little bastards are gone. I can't even think of a Milk Way bar without salivating.

Hello lovers.

So yeah, I'm a little worried about the whole trick-or-treating thing. Not only do I hate letting my kid have a giant pumpkin bucket filled with candy, I hate having it in my house when he goes to bed. I don't want to deny him the childhood rite of going door-to-door to beg strangers for candy, but I do want to limit the amount of crap I, I mean he, eats.

So here's how it's going down in Formerly Fat Mom's house this year. On my part, I'm going to exercise some good old fashioned self-control and will power, and stay the hell out of my kid's candy bucket. Seriously. I am still crawling my way back from my summer weight gain (I'm down 6 pounds so far) and I just got myself back into the swing of my workouts and good eating habits. I feel so much better than I did a month ago. Going on a sugar binge will make me feel horrible - physically and mentally. I've also been reading about all the terrible poisonous ingredients that are in commercial candy and that has helped deter my cravings. Education is power. (Though, come PMS time, I probably won't care about the GMO corn syrup in the Reese's Peanut Butter cups...) 

Oh Peanut M&Ms, I'll miss you the most.

As for the kid, here's the plan. On Halloween night we'll let him eat "all he wants" -- this is usually about 5 pieces since he has been known to vomit in his bed after sugar-intensive outings. In past years we've allowed 2 pieces per day till the bag is gone. Many parents tell me their kids forget about the candy and they just throw it away. My son does not forget. So this year he will be allowed his daily two-piece allotment but he will have to choose 20 pieces of candy to keep, and throw the rest away. He will complain about this. I will do it anyway. This way there is an end date for the candy bag and he can keep inventory on what he has and that means MAMA CAN'T STEAL HIS DAMN CANDY! Everyone wins! Sort of. 

Wish me luck...