Maybe if Thanksgiving stood alone on the calendar, it wouldn't pose such a threat to the average citizen. But it's the winter premiere, and a certain co-dependency has always existed between the beckoning of Thanksgiving and the ensuing swell of the holiday season.
Thanksgiving is the traditional kick-off. People are hauling out their time honored recipes for another year.
Family dishes are re-created yet one more time. Nostalgia reigns supreme as we fill our plates with our traditional favorites, reminiscing about golden Thanksgivings of years past.
And our waistlines and hips pay for it.
Giving up on a healthy diet and tossing good eating habits to the wind is also a holiday tradition for many unfortunates who struggle with their weight.
Oceans of advice flow and surge about the culinary hazards that lurk this time of year. Tons of expectations both good and bad have been laid upon our shoulders. I think we all pretty much know what is the right thing to do.
But knowledge and behavior are two entirely different things. And we can have made the healthy decision even while we are headed, bowl and spoon in hand, for the whipped cream.
Only you can know what pushes your particular buttons and tosses you headlong into the mashed potatoes, causing you to grasp on for dear life to the gravy boat. Only I know where the trip-wire lies when my eyes fasten upon the pumpkin pie and ice cream.
Maybe you can walk away from the homemade rolls. Perhaps the savory aroma of a steaming bowl of stuffing causes you to sniff and shrug. One person's siren call may fall on another's deaf ears.
Let's face it, all the good advice in the world can't protect any of us once we've become entranced and enticed, and are being pulled like the tide toward the dessert table. All the articles on women's health sites and in magazines become a meaningless din if our hearts just aren't in it.
Ultimately, nobody can do it for you. The conviction that walking away is not only the smart thing to do, but is also the smart thing you're doing -- that is going to have to come from within.
Are you made of sterner stuff? Are you able to let the sights and smells of Thanksgiving debauchery bounce off of you as off of armor? Am I?
Tomorrow will tell the tale.
Visit Jody's website and blog at http://www.ncubator.ca and http://ncubator.ca/blogger