A Sane Holiday Season

All year long I do relatively well with keeping up with my yearly goals of eating right, exercising, and writing. Okay, so I do all right, most days anyway. But from the end of November to the middle of January, the holiday chaos tends to take over and control my thoughts and actions sending those good intentions I've worked so hard to maintain all year right out the window.

Since I know this is going to happen, again, I've decided to come up with a plan:

1-Scheduled workouts can not be altered for any reason. This is a big one for me. Something comes up, I say I'll fit in a walk after dinner, but then a trip to the store or T-ball practice or studying for an upcoming spelling test or something always seems to take up that time. The next thing I know, it's been two weeks--or two months--since I've taken my walk. It doesn't take that long to walk a mile. I deserve fifteen minutes and so do you. Take it!

2-Eating right is going to be a big problem for me. I love food! Meats and potatoes, rice and gravy, and anything cheesy. Let's not forgot those deserts either (though these I can usually walk away from a heck of a lot fast and easier than the food!) I'm not real sure how I'm going to battle this, but all year I've had a set time I eat and I watch my calorie intake/burn ratio decently. So I'm going to stick to this one, too. I know it won't be as easy as planning my meals first thing in the morning and then sticking to it all day since they'll be visits with friends and dinners with family. However, just because I cook it, doesn't mean I have to eat it, or eat more than a bite or two so I don't feel deprived. (Keep your fingers crossed for me here. I see a lot of extra workouts in my future with nowhere to fit them in.)

3-Write everyday, even on the busiest days. Writing is a lot like working out. If I take one day off, it becomes two, then three, then a month. An illness put me behind schedule already so I can't afford anymore time away from the story. It only takes a few minutes to write a page. I can do this while sitting in the car line or while waiting for dinner to finish or while the kids are in the bath or hot tub.

4-Bedtime has to be at a reasonable hour. Another big one for me. I tend to put things off--like writing--until the last possible moment. Then I'm exhausted but haven't reached my goals for the day so I stay up late to get things finished (mostly writing related stuff). This usually works well for me . . . except my toddlers don't care if I stayed up late working. They still get up between six and seven. They still want breakfast. Still want my attention all day which means less time to fit in the things I need to do which means I'm up late again trying to finish up and usually the workouts get shorter and the writing takes a beating because there comes a time when you have to give into your body's demand for sleep. So the alarm stays set for bedtime (yes, I have to remind myself that it's time to go to be or it will be three in the morning before I know it) and even when the school break hits, I'll still get up at the usual time to get some writing or a workout in before the little ones start their day to help give me a few more minutes to spend with them and get the holiday chores done, too.

Now that I have my plan, the big challenge is sticking to it. Not sure I can do it, but I'm sure going to give it one heck of a try! What about you? How do you survive this time of chaos? Do you have have a plan or do you just pick up the pieces in January and start anew? Share your thoughts, 'cause, really, I wanna know :)

Laura