Hi - first and foremost I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a very Happy, Healthy and Sweet New Year. May you be blessed in this year with all good things, a lot of joys and simchas and few, but manageable, challenges. Now, how do we go about pursuing such a year? Davening, of course, but it is important for each of us to do our part as well. If we are incapable of doing something, we cannot be expected to do it, but if we are capable, then we are obligated. This means healthier food choices, healthier emotional choices, asking ourselves before every action "Is this the way I want to live?" "Will I be happy tomorrow with my choices today?" After all, today is tomorrow's past, and so much of our future depends on our decisions and actions of today. THIS IS YOUR YEAR!! This is the year that you GET IT - it's the year you take yourself off the back burner and start to take care of yourself FIRST, so that you can better handle anything that comes your way. This is the year that you will lose that weight and learn strategies for permanent weight control. This is the year that you get happier and healthier!!
It's Yom Tov time - full of beauty and newness and FOOD CHALLENGES!! And it's a month-long event!! What to do? First, think of the "salami method" - just take one slice (one day) at a time. Dont think about Yom Kippur till after Rosh Hashannah. During Yom Tov think of
Marcia's Yom Tov Rules:
1) Stay dressed when you eat - you eat differently with something around your waist. Feel every bite.
2) Sit down to everything you eat - especially if you are the server and preparer. It is so easy to eat the equivalent of a meal in the kitchen just preparing the meal 3) Drink water - even though you are out of routine and are not carrying around your bottle - find time, make time to drink
4) Eat breakfast - it focuses your mind and your day and
5) NO CAKE and its' relatives - once you start, it's so hard to stop. The sugar addiction takes over. And yes, it's addictive - that goes for sugar, honey, barley malt, rice syrup, maltose, fructose, all the -oses. Not any one is better than any other one (to answer your question , Anonymous).
So, while you are busy shopping, cleaning, inviting and preparing, please think of yourself- preparing for you, shopping for you - it will only enhance the season for you.
NEXT BLOG: How I handled the Rosh HaShannah Seuda for 20 people....

Again, A "SHANA TOVA" or "GIT, GEBENCHT YOR" to all. Thank you for all of your support, and I look forward to STARTing FRESH with you next year (5769)