I love the holidays, and abundance of presents, food, and viruses to be shared.  The elf in the red hat has it easy compared to us.  To make my holidays a little simpler I have compiled my favorite tips to solve my top problems.

Holiday Weight Gain

“Freshman  Fiteen” and I have not parted ways completely yet and now here comes competition.  Straight from the buffet line: to jolly jiggle. My favorite tip for beating the Holiday bulge is drinking water, and lots of it.  When I feel like I need to go back for the third Christmas Cookie (in thirty minutes) I am instead going to try to fill my glass with good old H2O.  I expect it will not only wash the sugar coating from my buds but also give my hands something to do while bearing the tedium of togetherness.  Also, I am going to make a list for Santa with my fitness wishes.   How long has it been since you have made a list for Santa?  It should be fun!  I am going to write down all of the things I want for Christmas and include my goals for physical and mental well being.  My wishes are going to include: keeping my gym time every day, and always having a mini-meal that is healthy before heading to a party.

Christmas Party Planning

I love thowing parties and the best part is the decorations and invitations.  This year I used evite to plan the guest list and send out the invitations.  I designed my own invitation still, but I was able to make sure I didn’t leave anyone out by looking at past guest lists.  The best part of it all?  As the organizer, I am able to track who has looked at the invite and not responded – you, internets, are evil!  I also decided to hire someone to clean my place before the party so I have more time and energy to dedicate to baking appetizers and making the decorations.  I made a garland swag for the doorway and a matching wreath, and I am getting together the prizes for the Ugly Christmas Sweater contest.  Much more fun than scrubbing toilets.

Gift Cards

I know some people think a gift card isn’t thoughtful, but I doth protest.   There is a store for everyone, and everyone has a store.  After years of hearing my family make fun of the gifts they recieved from others, I have made peace with the fact that they are probably making fun of mine as well.  I am okay with that – however, it takes thought and knowledge to decide which store the person you are buying for loves the most… and I am going to use this thought and knowledge to my advantage.  I did a little digging and found a site that sells gift cards to restaurants and retailers for less than their face value.  I finished the majority of my Christmas shopping less than a half hour and didn’t have to worry about germs and lines.

Happy Holidays!