Seasonal metabolic affectedness disorder

Just a short one this am.

How is everyone this Saturday morning? I  treated myself to some relaxed TV viewing last night and was appalled at how  THAT time of year is being rammed down our throats via every medium known to man. It is 3 weeks away still advertisers, sort it out! Of course they won't, the sooner they start advertising, the more wonga they make. If I had my way, I would start thinking about Christmas on Christmas Eve, then forget about it by the 27th. I would sooner hibernate for 2 weeks and come around when it is all over. The true sentiment of Christmas has been lost, swallowed up in excessive drinking, spending, partying and eating.
The financial pressure families must feel at this time of year cannot be nice, especially in these turbulent economic times. I am sure there will be many a frugal Christmas this year; nuts and satsumas in stockings, pieces of coal under the tree!

So the festive season has put me in mind of the gastronomic challenges anyone losing weight faces at this time of year. Gym memberships will inevitably soar post New Years Eve 2011 but any time before that seems to give many people the licence to gorge on food. In all fairness, our discipline IS tested at this time of year. All that tempting food and booze laid out on the supermarket shelves, yearning you to buy it with it's alluring advertising. There is a veritable pressure to eat like a gannet and drink like a fish; friends parties, work Christmas dinners, catching up with friends and family. it's party season right? I think I shall coin  a new term 'seasonal metabolic affectedness disorder' (SMAD for a nice acronym.) The definition can be, 'the general publics en masse, seasonal urge to consume copious amounts of calories during a 7 day period.' 

The last couple of Christmases, I have relaxed my eating habits a bit. It is nice to enjoy a gut busting Christmas dinner and partake in the yummy desserts and tasty snacks that are shunted around. I think it is all to easy to fall off the weight loss wagon after Christmas, for some it is very hard to clamber back on in the New Year. 

Nevertheless it is important to enjoy ourselves, especially if those around us are! We can still be mindful of what we are eating but loosening the reins a little bit won't matter too much

R xx