Hi - I hope everyone's Rosh Hashannah was as beautiful as mine was, and again, I want to wish each of you a very happy and healthy year. This is one gift we can strive for - healthy by making healthier food choices, happy - what feels better than being in control? Dont ruin what you want so badly - what you have spent time in shul davening for, and what everyone is wishing you this time of year. And, loseweightima, we ALL have those same issues some times. Every day we "vow" to start and every day we end up full, sick and sorry. BUT you can never never give up - whatever you do is not as bad as what you could do if you werent thinking about your program. One day it will just click, and then the next day and the next, etc. The weight loss journey is not a straight line - it's full of ups and downs, peaks and valleys - we've just gotta keep journeying.
As far as preparing and cooking for many guests on Yom Tov - first, to be fair, the real cook is my beautiful, wonderful, emotionally and physically healthy sister. BUT it's MY house - so the trigger foods are there long before Yom Tov and the leftovers are there long after the last guest is gone. Tips? 1) Eat meals. Sit down and focus. Let your body and mind know that you ate. 2)Have a bottle of water handy and sip while you cook. 3) Talk to yourself - tell yourself what you really want (and it's not the food) 4) Have cut up veggies available, soup in a microwave mug ready to heat in an emergency.
I KNOW that the secret to success is SIDE DISHES!! Make sure you are satisfied when you walk away from the meal.
So, the guests came and it is no mystery why people look the way they do. The Natural Thins ate like Natural Thins and the others, well the others ate like the others, and were talking about which diet they would go on after Yom Tov. You see, once you declare your freedom from any kind of program, any control, all bets are off and you are vulnerable for anything.ACT AS IF YOU ARE A NATURAL THIN - watch them and imitate them!
And the leftovers - they leave when the guests leave. The choices? Send them away, give them away, throw them away, or flush them away. They're too dangerous when they hang around.
I hope everyone's fast is an easy and meaningful one, and the rest of the Yom Tov everything you wish it to be. Enjoy!

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)