My pre-New Years Resolution: How I will lose at least 10 pounds over the holidays.

Happy Holidays,

Eat up my friends! Have another cookie. Have another appetizer. Have another chocolate. Have another drink. Potluck till you bust. And then there are leftovers. If there is a time for the eating Olympics it is during the Christmas Holiday Season. I routinely gain about 10 pounds every December. Sometimes I gain more but it is sure thing that I will be busting out of my clothes come January and making a resolution like I do every year. I can't think of a more challenging time to maintain dietary discipline than over the holidays. Besides, I love to cook and I love to eat. I make new things and can't wait for the LA Times Cookie list so I can make at least  half of them. The See's candy is everywhere and I know ever piece by sight like the old TV Show Concentration. In a word: Doomed.
Except this year. I came into some good fortune and I will be hiking the 22 mile round trip Na Pali Coast trail in January 2013 for next to nothing and I want to be down 10-15 pounds in the next six weeks. So the "Reason" is going to trump the "Season". The only way this is possible is if the reason is bigger than the season and I can tell you it is. To be sure, I want to enjoy the food and the new LA Times cookies and I will make them but I want to be lighter so I can hike longer and since I will be overnighting for 3 days I need to carry more in my pack. I will lose the weight to carry a little more weight.

So what is the strategy? First, I will cut out sugar for the next six weeks except at the Christmas Day and New Years Day. Those will be "treat" days. I most likely will end extending a day before and after with leftovers but I will will discipline myself to portion size.  These special days are a week apart which will actually trigger a renewal of the hormone Leptin which is a fat burning hormone that apparently drops when you lower your caloric content. I will bump up my fat content which has more density and is more satiating. I will eat light at night and limit carbs especially at night to trigger more fat burning while I sleep. I will do 20-30 minutes of cardio each day and hike each weekend 10 miles to get ready for the 22 mile round trip hike. I will hit the gym for a weight workout of 40-50 minutes at least 3 times a week. Sound tough? What's tough is trying to suck my stomach in to button my pants in January. Sounds like a win win to me. Happy Holidays.