'Tis the Season

Tis the holiday season

But all up in your head

“How to stick to your diet”

Fills you with dread

There will be parties and gatherings

Festivities and such

Temptations too many

And pressures too much

And websites and media

Their articles abound -

“Be fearful this season

Lest you gain a few pounds!”

So you get out the scales

One for the kitchen and bath

You’ll be vigilant this year

No room for a gaff

You’ll weigh every morsal

And then yourself every morn

And if that scales moves slightly

You’ll meet it with scorn

Oh you’ll commit to the diet

But it won’t be a cinch

And you’ll do what you must

Becoming a Grinch

No egg nog for you

No drinks to good cheer

Not even hot chocolate

Not even light beer

You’ll skip the big feast

The trimmings and pie

You pretend you don’t want it

But you know that’s a lie

Just one more temptation

To add to the pile

But do you question the costs

Of such extreme self-denial?

So you sneak a few shortbreads

Aware what you ate

And then wash them all down

With a big dose of self-hate

Then you redouble your efforts

Your commitment to self

But your willpower’s shrinking

To the size of an elf

So if that’s what it takes

You’ll try even harder

You become a slave to your diet

And serve as its martyr!

So pile on the guilt

And more contempt for the season

And who could blame you at all

Because you have ‘such a good reason’

You’ll go hungry tomorrow

Yes, that’s the trick

“Bah humbug” this season

That includes you, Ole Saint Nick!

So at the next party

You stick to all veggies - no dips

“A few moments in the mouth

But a lifetime on the hips”

That is your motto

You remind yourself harshly

You’ll stick to the veggies

The garnish, and parsley

So starving you go

While trying to be nice

Resisting visions of sugar plums

And any other food vice

But your heart is not full

Of goodwill toward men

Because your stomach is empty

And your cravings, X’s ten!

No chocolate at all

No candy canes either

Not even a lick

Or on your thighs it will gather

So, you’re sticking to diet

But you seem to have lost all the ‘Merry”

You’ll weigh in tomorrow

And even that is quite scary

“And the gym may be closed”

You hear someone say

“Say it ain’t so man

You’re supposed to workout on that day!”

So instead you start hoping

For a dumping of snow

You can burn lots of calories

In the shovelling, you know

Now you’ve lost all perspective

And something more dear

No glad tidings inside you

Less love and good cheer

To all of you out there

 Who want to surrender tradition,

I say - you lose something far more important

Than some lame diet mission.

The Good Book teaches

A time for all seasons

Don’t weigh yourself down

With lame diet reasons

Embrace the full season

And all that it brings

The food and the drink

And other such things

And on this diet of yours

What if you cheat?

I say, celebrating the season

Is not a defeat

And just put away for now

Your guilt-measuring scale

And if you want to, instead

Have another cider or ale

So I send you all out

This warm season’s greeting

And I suggest to you all

Just enjoy what you’re eating!

I say let go of the guilt

And stick a fork in your diet

And I’m sure you will like this

If you let yourself try it

The guilt and the worry

Will surely poison your mood

And all over what?

Some drink and some food?

There’s a time to make Merry

To be human as well

So why give this all up

For some dark diet hell?

We celebrate yearly

With food and with drink

Embrace them both fully

It’s time don’t you think?

Don’t you get tired

Of the same yearly game?

You crave and resist

And end up with shame

Forget all these experts

Who warn you of gain

They are part of the problem

And cause you more pain

They tell you “be worried”

Or you may end up fatter

They want to generate fear

So ignore all their chatter

You need not resist

And suffer in hiding

Get out there and share

In warm joyful tidings

There is a time and a place

And the holiday season’s not it

To think that your diet

Is something you “quit”

Raise a glass to good cheer

And fill your plate up as well

And embrace all the sentiment

From that first jingle bell

Because spiritual fitness

Is shaped in traditions

So, embrace them in full

Without these self-conscious restrictions

There can be food for the soul

And for the soul, can be food

And there’s meaning in that

And I don’t want to be rude

But there will always be time

For the battle of the bulge

But there should also be occasion

To most fully indulge

So here’s my idea

It’s not so contrary

It’s is far more important – in season

To Eat, Drink, and be Merry!

So hear me exclaim

As I sit here and write

Season’s Greetings to All

And To all

A Good Bite!

If the Holiday season is something important to you and yours, don’t rob yourself of all it can do for you by trying to divide your energies. I implore you, as a fitness and diet expert – let go the self-consciousness - let go the body-image - let go the diet-nonsense and the guilt attachments, just this season. And see what it does for your soul. Allow yourself and your heart to be fully wrapped up in the magic of the season again – even be hugged by it.  Remember what it was like as a kid. Embrace that. Your soul needs it. Your soul is nourished by it. It’s once a year. Let go, surrender the external stuff, for internal real stuff – the stuff of the stuff - that should matter.

Season’s Greetings to You All – and

God Bless