…and I do mean literally. The holiday season is a difficult time for many people (me included), simply due to the amount of treats that are just lying around. I usually gain weight this time of year…and attempt to lose it and more starting in January. It’s not that I make a New Year’s resolution or anything…just that I realize that I’ve been eating junk and fatty things for the past few months solid.

It’s so hard to say no when that stuff is laying around everywere you look…at work, at home, at parties. I’m happy to report that the 5lbs. I gained over the holidays has now fallen away. Of course, there’s still more that I’d like to lose, but this is a triumph that I’m celebrating.

So, what am I doing to lose the weight? Right now, it’s just making better choices with regard to food. I’m trying to cook more and bring in lunches to work. It’s not saying no to everything but I’m trying to be realistic. For example, we went to dinner with Joe’s mom the other night and Joe chose Fuddruckers. I love that place…they have killer hamburgers, fries, and shakes. I decided that even though I really wanted all three things, I’d have to chose. I took the hamburger with fries and had a diet soda. Plus, I only had half of the fries. I also peeled off the excess bun so that I wasn’t eating more bread than I needed. Last night I made a lighter meal to compensate. We had teriyaki salmon with fresh french green beans and a tri-grain rice (white, brown, and red).

Another hint…I’m eating less at meal time and more times a day. I eat a granola bar on the ride into work and either a yogurt or something similar at around 9:30 or 10am. Then I eat lunch and have a snack either late in the day or when I get home to tie me over for dinner, since we eat fairly late. This helps me keep my portions down when I sit down for meals. Also, eating more veggies/fruits and protein has been pretty good.
On that note, I’m trying to put some cottage cheese in my diet. I usually don’t care for it…I’ve tried adding sugar, vanilla, yogurt, etc. It all tastes like crap. Except, I’ve discovered those Knudsen Cottage Doubles. There’s a section of the container with low fat cottage cheese and one for a fruit topping. I really like the pineapple one. I think that before, I was trying to cover the taste of the cottage cheese when I just needed to find a complimentary flavor to eat with it. C’est si bon!