Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
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WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM DECEMBER 8-14, 2021 UCW 17 We are surrounded with the joy of the holidays, gatherings, parties, celebrations decorating and food. e thought of tasty morsels and delicate treats tempt us in every turn with com- mercials, magazines and social media. e famous Lucille Ball bonbons in the chocolate factory episode comes to mind as she struggles to keep up with the assembly line while devouring countless bonbons. An exaggeration but if you think about it, we tend to gobble down the once-a-year treats in a similar fashion. e average amount of calories consumed on Christmas day is from 5000 to 7,500 and that does not include the added daily consumption. e Holiday season is a challenging time to watch your diet but there are ways that you can have your cake and eat it, too. With a mindful approach to eating and continuing with exercise, you can enjoy the holidays and not face the extra pounds in January. A little holiday strategy can help you not to fall into food overdrive. Attending a holiday party? Holiday parties are enticing with lavish displays of goodies high in calories during your mealtime. Eating something before you go lessens the desire to fill the plate. Avoid grazing at parties. It is easy to rationalize if you did not get a plate then you are not eating as much with the one bite pickup approach. e one bite pickups quickly become more than the serving you would have enjoyed if you had gotten a plate. e joy of baking and receiving baked goods are a seasonal highlight and easy to take the approach that just one will not hurt. By the end of the day, one has turned into two or three with mounting calories. Enjoy your treats by cutting down on the amount you eat and try to eat them earlier in the day. While dining at home limit your por- tions by eating off a smaller plate such as a salad plate and, if you are dining out, take home a portion of your meal or the next day's lunch or dinner. When ordering a dessert, opt to share with a friend or spouse. ere can be a tendency to skip meals during the holidays because you are so busy. Skipping meals adds to more caloric intake when you finally eat. Carry a protein bar with you while you are on your shopping excursions and avoid that tempting drive-through for the fast food. Take a healthy food choice as your contribution to a holiday party or family gathering. At the hors d'oeuvres table, instead of eating that ham or turkey in a roll, pick up that protein and dip it in a sauce or roll it up with a veggie. Try to avoid continuous taste testing while you are preparing a meal or mak- ing holiday treats. Liquid calories in signature holiday drinks, hot chocolate and eggnog are large contributors to added calories. Enjoy your beverage with just one mindset. Drink water in a fancy glass with seasonal fruit. In addition to diet challenges, your fitness routine may take backstage during the season, but you can put pep in that step with a little creativity. Park further away in the shopping center and walk briskly to and from. Take the stairs when they are available or brisk walks for lesser distance and time. Runs during the holidays can be fun with themed runs and you can dance around the house to holiday music. Live, love, life and embrace the season by having your cake and eating it, too. FITNESS CYNTHIA ROSS, Personal Trainer. COMMENTS? Editor@ upandcomingweekly.com. 910- 484-6200. DAN DEBRULER, General Manager, WCLN. Comments? Editor@upandcomingweekly. com. 910-484-6200. Have your cake and eat it, too by CYNTHIA ROSS It's amazing how a line, a chorus or even an entire song seems to know us better than we know ourselves — or better express what we're feeling, at the very least. e best songwriters probably have the gift of teaching. After celebrating several dozen Christmases here on earth, I thought I'd heard songs about the Christmas story and season sung from every possible angle. But then the song, "I Need Christmas" from Daniel Doss came along. Not a big name — he had some nominal success in Christian music circles in the mid-2000s and is well known around the Nashville area — but his new Christmas song is just what I was looking for this year. It's not even new. He wrote and released it himself last year, but it landed on my desk on the first day of November 2021. As the song begins, the words iden- tify with the weight we've collectively carried the past couple of years: I need reason again to sing I need peace here on earth I need His joy in this world Like I never have before But then it gets personal, acknowl- edging the questions, pain and struggles that seem to never go away. When the early Christians cel- ebrated Christmas, the focus was on the birth of Christ and the true gifts He brought into this world: love, joy and peace. For centuries, we've crowded the season with all sorts of extra tradi- tions and expectations. 2020 gave us a taste of a simplified Christmas. ere were no parties, gifts arrived in Amazon boxes and many church services and family gatherings were celebrated through phone or com- puter screens. Despite sadness over the loss of connection, the slower pace we gained opened my eyes all the more to the true meaning of Christmas. And now — Christmas 2021, I was ready to be reminded that Jesus — Creator of the entire universe — chose to live in the world He created as one of us. In the Daniel Doss song he re- minds us of His humanity: Jesus had problems, He had family And sometimes those were one and the same He had friends and, He had betrayers But showed us how to love them anyway He had vision, He had dreams No one understood and not many believed He had loved ones that passed away Oh it's good to know He understands our pain at's what we need to hear. at's what we need to remember. Jesus has been showing us the way from the very beginning. So celebrate the sweet little baby in the manger, but don't stop there. Follow the baby who grows into a man showing us how to treat others with kindness, correct others in love and honor relationships at home and everywhere we go. Follow Him as He teaches us to trust God and His plan for man- kind. It's a journey, and some- where along the way you'll look up and realize you've reached the point — as in the song — that we have a responsibility and say: I'll be Christmas this year. I'll remind everyone. I Need Christmas by DAN DEBRULER FAITH Photo courtesy of Pexels Photo courtesy of Pexels