Holiday musings… and ever tightening jeans!

personal trainer diary

- Beth Beauchemin (Read About Beth)

As many of you already know, I have NO hope of keeping my waistline tight and taut over the holiday season.  Having a baby isn’t exactly the best way to stay looking skinny and trim (although it is VERY possible to stay fit through your pregnancy…. Hello Belly Bootcamp prenatal classes!!!), so I’m pushing off my skinny jeans goal until December 2010.  (Yummy… that means all I can eat homemade butter tarts!  Well, maybe not all I can eat, but I will certainly indulge in a few.  It’s for the baby!)

Since I have no hope of controlling my waistline this season, I am hoping (somewhat) to keep a tighter rein on my holiday budget.  What is it about the holiday season that triggers an urge to spend as much as I possibly can to show the people around me that I care about them?  I really and truly don’t look at what I receive as a measure of anything, so why would I put that pressure on myself?  Is it true that “in order to be a good daughter/sister/sister-in-law/friend/etc you need to spend xxx amount of dollars”.   Absolutely not! It is truly a crazy time of year, but here are some ways you can trim the fat from your holiday budget.

1. Go paperless. Not only is this great for the environment (YEAH!), but it will save you time and money!  You can go paperless in a variety of ways.  My favourite 2 are e-cards for holiday notes (This is so fast AND no waiting in line at the post office to mail them all!!!) and being “useful” when wrapping gifts.  As little paper as possible in this house – we recycle gift bags like they are going out of style, of course, but we also try and use fabric.  Bath or kitchen towels make great wrapping paper, as do reusable lunch bags.  Where there is a will there’s a way!
2. Hit the dollar store. While paperless is still goal 1, I still have to send cards to my granny and wrap my mom’s presents.  Some things will never change!  For items like that…. Hello Dollarama!  I can spend $20 on a card and wrapping paper at the drugstore, or $3 at the dollar store.  No brainer!
3. Partner up. This comes from my own personal preference….. I would much rather one nice gift than a bunch of less-than-spectacular little ones.  In our family, I often partner up with a few people to get my dad the tool he’s coveting, or the new golf clubs my mom has been eyeing.  We spend less than we would have individually, and are able to get a much nicer gift.
4. Buy occasions, not items. This is another great “eco” gift.  Items such as a restaurant/movie/spa gift certificates; your babysitting services for a night; tickets to a play… these are all great ideas and will create a memory that the recipient will treasure for a long time to come.
5. Channel your inner Martha. While I admit that not everyone has culinary or sewing skills, there are a variety of easy and gorgeous things that you can make yourself as gifts.  When I was a kid, my grandfather LOVED banana splits.  His present from me one year… “a banana split kit”.  Homemade chocolate sauce, pineapple jam, and strawberry jam, with a small whipped cream container.  Cheesy?  Yes.  Heart-warming?  Very.  Useful?  Definitely!  I think we had banana splits at their house every Friday for the next 2 months!  Spend some time researching online, and you will find a plethora of ideas that truly do come from the heart.

So while I will admit that I did go ridiculously overboard for my granny (can anyone say cashmere set?!), I have managed to find a few places where I’ve been able to be more reasonable.   Now I just have to sit back and let the dust settle on my credit card:  we will see what January brings!

Happy Holidays everyone!

counting those holiday calories

reviews & resources

I love calorielab.com and I’m not afraid to say it out loud.

There are many, many, many websites out there with dubious databases of calorie “counts.”  I’m quite certain what passes as a “count” on these sites would not satisfy a mathematician.  They are often calorie “guesses,” since much of this information is actually submitted by readers who may mismeasure, misread and, ultimately, mislead you.

But not calorielab.  This website is chock full of information and it is all compiled by calorielab itself – no input from readers and no errors.  Type in a food – homemade, packaged or enjoyed in a restaurant – and calorielab spits out not just calories but fat, carbs, protein, vitamins, minerals and more.  You can even check the caffeine content of your favourite Starbucks beverage or the alcohol content of your usual hockey game brew.  My only caveat: the site is American and features more American chain restaurants and brands than Canadian.  That said, it does feature many brands available in Canada as well as generic information applicable to various similar products.  Check it out when you’re planning a menu or use it to total the calories in your food journal for the day.

Now, for your ease, a sampling of holiday treats and their basic nutritional values.

Keep in mind, the average women needs to consume only about 2,000 calories and keep dietary fats to approximately 60 g per day to avoid health risks and maintain a healthy weight.  Eat wisely!