Shedding Pounds This Holiday Season With the New Candy Cane Diet

Shedding Pounds This Holiday Season With the New Candy Cane Diet The holidays are a time of joy, spending time with family, friends, and avoiding fruitcake at all costs. Throughout December, we're bombarded by platters of brownies, pies, cookies, cheese plates, gin fizzes and those tins of stale flavored popcorn. When I'm offered sweets or appetizers at work, cocktail parties and my parent's house, it's easy to put on a few pounds between Thanksgiving and New Years.

In order to combat the added calories, I developed a very simple "Candy Cane Diet" that works which I first jokingly blogged about on MySpace back in 2005. Sounds weird, right? But believe it or not, people actually used MySpace at one time. And for the handful of friends that may have read it six years ago, I've been on this seasonal diet (Nov-Jan) since then and revised the plan with even more research to back up my findings. The Facts: 1. Peppermint works as a natural appetite suppressant. I noticed years ago that eating a peppermint candy cane after a meal kept me full and not reaching for more goodies. 2. This diet is less expensive than weight loss supplements, drinks, or paid programs. 3. Whether you have a sweet tooth or not, this diet works and canes can be substituted with Peppermint tea. Here is how the Diet works: Diet Plan* 1. Eat a well balanced breakfast around 400 calories. It's okay to drink coffee too. 2. After a reasonably portioned lunch, skip the cupcakes or cookies and grab a candy cane. 3. Snack around 3pm-Like oranges, nuts, pretzel crisps, string cheese, Greek yogurt with honey & berries. 4. After dinner, as soon as you feel full instead of indulging in desserts, grab a candy cane. 5. Doing steps 1-4 most days will allow you to eat more at a holiday dinners or events during Dec. *Actual weight loss results may vary and may increase tooth decay, (but trust me it works). The candy cane must be the standard size & peppermint flavor (watermelon, blueberry or fruity candy canes won't work. (Box of 12= 40 calories each. Try to stick to 2-3 canes a day) *These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. This diet is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. And exercise (even if it's just walking) and drinking H20 helps, as with any diet. Added Benefits: 1. A candy cane is a festive edible accessory during the holidays. Cuter than a lollipop, and much healthier than cigarettes. Plus, they easily fit in your purse, pocket or clutch. 2. No hostess will feel the need to force goodies or egg nog down your throat if they see you with candy. 3. Minty fresh breath in case you meet Mr. or Mrs. right under the mistletoe. 4. You can lose weight & still eat your favorite holiday foods in reasonable portions a couple times a week. In closing, I also just read last week I just read yesterday in Better Homes & Garden magazine, (Dec. 2011, pg. 181) that "Next time you need a nudge to exercise, try a peppermint stick. Studies suggest the fresh scent can rev mental energy and boost athletic performance." Shedding Pounds This Holiday Season With the New Candy Cane Diet

A Reason For the Season - Christmas Eve

One of the most significant aspects of Christmas Eve is religious in nature. Attending Midnight Mass or earlier church services is mandatory for many Christians. This is even so for people who aren't regular attendants at church during the rest of the year. Evidence of the importance of Christmas church services can be seen in the overflow of congregations at the churches.

Many churches also have an added service earlier in the evening to accommodate the 'extras', and for individuals like the elderly who would prefer a service that is earlier than Midnight Mass.

Christmas Cookies

The day before Christmas is filled with a mixture of anxiety and anticipation in most families. There's anxiety at putting all the final plans and finishing decoration touches in place and getting all the necessary shopping done. There's also much anticipation about all the merriment and excitement of Christmas day.

Children are often barely able to control themselves as they think about the Christmas gifts they hope to receive. They may try to stay up through the night to catch Santa Claus at their tree, or they may just be too excited to sleep.

Christmas Eve is also important for the simple reason that in ancient cultures and customs, a holiday or other celebrated day really starts from sundown of the day before the actual day that is celebrated. Therefore, festivities for Christmas Day really begin on
Christmas Eve.

Another important aspect of Christmas Eve celebrations is related to retail operations. On the day before Christmas, stores make a last ditch effort to push sales of Christmas and other merchandise. There often are special promotions last-minute advertised to capitalize on late, desperate Christmas shoppers and other impulse buyers. This last effort is also aimed at increasing sales for the Christmas period.

Food plays a big role in making Christmas Day special and much of its preparation often begins on Christmas Eve. Poultry and other meats are often prepared by letting them stand in a mixture of various herbs and spices, puddings and pies are baked on Christmas Eve, as well as a fresh batch of gingerbread and other cookies and treats. The scents and flurry of activity related to all these preparations also help to
make Christmas Eve a memorable day on its own.

Some stores will remain open late, even up to midnight or just before midnight. Macy's department store in New York City, which bills that particular store branch as the world's largest, stayed open until midnight on Christmas Eve of 1867 for the first time. Christmas Eve culminates the single biggest shopping season, which started the day after Thanksgiving, for retailers.

Christmas Eve is also important for the traditions associated with it. It is the night when parents have to play the role of Santa Claus and sneak toys and other Christmas gifts under the Christmas tree to the absolute delight and surprise of children who awake on Christmas morning to find the presents.

The idea of Santa Claus coming descending chimneys on Christmas Eve to leave gifts for good boys and girls was made popular by a poem, attributed to Clement Clarke Moore. In that poem titled 'An Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas, ' which Moore wrote in 1822 and which is now popularly known as 'Twas the Night Before Christmas,' Moore described Santa Claus as 'a right jolly old elf' who went from house to house with his sleigh pulled by reindeers flying through the air to deliver Christmas presents to all the girls and boys who had been well behaved.

A Reason For the Season - Christmas Eve

Hooray for Christmas! One of Laura's favorite subjects in magazines, websites, and personal consultations. Laura has also written on a variety of other decorating and family topics for the past 11 years. For more ideas and inspiration on Christmas tradition decor, check out Country Christmas.