SENIOR MOMENT: Say no to holiday weight gains

By BETTY MUNSEY/Columnist

What waddles like a turkey, feels like the Pillsbury Doughboy, and gains five pounds in a month?  Sadly it’s those of us who ate too much during Thanksgiving and can’t contain our holiday appetites through New Year’s Day.  Our clothes grow tighter seemingly overnight; our fingers and legs swell due to excessive salt intake; and we’re uncomfortable when sitting due to rolls of excessive fat around our middles.
We tend to blame our weight gains on slowing metabolism when in actuality, more food is going into our bodies than exercise is able to burn away. The rules for dieting and exercise are the same during the holidays as they are the other eleven months of the year. If we want to maintain our pre-holiday weight we have to make a concerted effort to exercise more and eat less fattening foods. 
Finding opportunities for exercise is more challenging as we age and varies with our physical abilities and disabilities. Some seniors don’t have access to a gym where the younger generations faithfully work out several times a week.  Yet there are practical options for senior exercises including parking farther from the store when shopping; walking through the community or around the block to enjoy the beauty of the season; looking for opportunities to remain active; and yes, cleaning the house. Cleaning may not be the most fun activity but the results are twofold in that the house is cleaner and the physical exertion truly does burn calories.
While cleaning the house, start with the snack cabinet, removing any leftover Halloween candy, stale chips, and other high calorie items.  We know that reducing sweets in our diets is especially difficult for those of us with a sweet tooth. It’s easy to forget that the average American consumes two to three pounds of sugar each week as we circle the dessert table at the community potluck supper.  For many, the more hectic the holidays become, the more food we consume. Please note that “desserts” spelled backward is “stressed.”
Most seniors know the value of eating three balanced meals starting with a good breakfast.  Well planned healthy snacks add nutrition to the diet and curb our cravings. If nibbling while traveling is a problem for you as it is for me, carry small plastic bags filled with pieces of fresh vegetables (peppers, carrots, radishes), fruits (apples, oranges, pineapple), nuts, pretzels, and even dried fruits. Substituting water or even diet soda for high-calorie soft drinks helps reduce total calorie intake. 
While most of us were preparing our Thanksgiving feast early Thursday morning, 7,582 runners gathered on the streets of downtown Roanoke for the City Rescue Mission’s Drumstick Dash. Some of the runners were accompanied by their dogs and some even ran the 3.1 miles pushing babies in strollers. Preliminary estimates show approximately $170,000 was raised to help support Mission activities and along the way the participants benefited from a big dose of fresh air and abundant exercise.
A final note on surviving the holidays with little or no weight gain is to remember that conversation is calorie free and just as enjoyable as the fattening foods spread across the table. Once on the lips, forever on the hips!
A retired Extension agent, Betty Munsey lives and farms in Bland County.