New Year - New Beginnings

The decorations have finally been put away, and Christmas is officially over. Each and every year, I keep reminding myself not to over-indulge during the holiday, and yet again I've done it. I've eaten too much, drunk more than I should, and slept less than required. Once again, I will start off the New Year with the promise of a "clean month, free of excessive "binging", and trying to lose the ridiculous weight gained during the past month. As a friend said yesterday, "We (westerns) spend part of Christmas wishing we didn't eat so much when parts of the world spend Christmas wishing they had enough to eat". That is so true; we are all about wants rather than needs.

I am a self proclaimed junkoholic. If I have that one piece of chocolate, one scoop of ice-cream, chips, candy etc., I absolutely have to have more. I cannot stop until it's finished, or I'm finished. There's evenings when I battle my own demon regarding the chocolate in the cupboard. I usually listen to the "voice" that's telling me that "one can't be that bad". Of course, I never ONLY have one. I could probably do with a CAA group (chocoholics’ anonyms).

So for January, I will avoid any parties involving food. I have a simple regime for diet, and that is to pre-plan my meals. I know what's healthy and good for me, but the difficult part is execution. So, if my meals are planned the day ahead, I hopefully won't stray off the menu. January is also the month when I like to be creative with all the food I have in my pantry. I tend to over stock the pantry, and as many items are not as favourable others, they get pushed to the back. I like the idea of "cleaning out" in January. I only purchase dairy, fruit & vegetables until we've "emptied" the pantry. Any perishables left undesirable at the end of the month gets donated to the food bank. I spend less money on food, and very little time at the grocery store.

Yesterday, I made a big batch of 9-bean-soup, healthy, hearthy and filling. I wasn't sure if the kids would like it, but I was surprisingly pleased when they all had seconds, brought the rest for lunch and told me to make another batch. If I've done one thing right with my kids, is to have opened up their palettes to the wonders of different foods and flavours of various cultures. They all love their vegetables!

It'll be a tough month staying away from all of the foods I crave, but mind over matter...I'll do it.