Christmas is coming and the goose is...

Well, the goose is having problems. As I mentioned way back when, I have family issues when it comes to food. At Christmas time, these issues are much more pronounced. More than any time of the year, Christmas was when the treats came out. Christmas was when, for a small period of time, our family didn't feel so poor. We'd have mincemeat tarts, cookies, chips, dip, foil-covered chocolate balls, and lots of other treats that we didn't get any other time of the year.

In short, for me, Christmas is intertwined with food. And so far this year, I'm having no great success in untangling it. The nearer the day gets, the more deprived I've been feeling. I've been letting off the steam in small barely-managed bursts of treat eating. Sunday afternoon, the dam burst. There was a plate of cookies, a bowl of foil-covered chocolate balls, and...well...it snowballed from there.

Today I'm feeling equally rebellious. I've eaten some chocolates that a client brought in as a gift. I also didn't say "no" to the Hazelnut Lindt ball that my coworker saved for me. I even encouraged my manager to bring in her famous rumballs. If you're thinking this is sounding like an imminent train wreck, you'd be right. The brakes aren't working and the engineer is talking on her cel phone.

So I'm making a deal with myself today. Since separating food from Christmas is just about nigh impossible for me right now, I'm giving myself permission to go ahead and eat treats from now until the day I get back from skiing. Yes, a free food pass. However...and there's the big however right there...I also have to do something for my physical well-being in return. Here's what I'm going to do to keep it together:

• Have a nutritious breakfast every morning
• Take my multivitamin
• Drink at least 6 glasses of water each day
• Exercise every day
• Practice moderation as much as possible

I am also going to continue to do what I've been trying to do. And that's to find fun Christmasy things to do that don't involve food. All of this is damage control to be sure. And yes, there's a whole lot more that I could be doing. But it's a start and better than letting the train tumble into the canyon.

I also realize that weight gain is likely. I'm hoping though that with permission given, a sense of responsibility will prevail. As they say in the movies, with great foil-covered chocolate eating power comes great responsibility.