With the holiday season upon us I’d like to make a holiday season wish for all in our community. The holidays are a time of family, fun, food and football. We kick off the season with Thanksgiving and feasting.

My wish is that we load up our Thanksgiving weekend with a double helping of family, fun and football. How about this year we try and make the “food” helpings just of normal proportions. Maybe this year as part of saying “thanks” for another great year, we try and take a walk in the beautiful weather that is our community during the late fall season. Let’s start a new Thanksgiving tradition that after the feast we walk around our community and think about all the wonderful things we are “thankful” for.

After Thanksgiving is the stress of the pre-Christmas shopping season. It is the time of year of holiday parties and gift giving ideas. We all struggle to balance all the pre-holiday festivities and last minute gift searches.

My suggestion is we plan our nourishment into the hectic holiday schedule. The idea is to try planning to eat as smart as we can as we schedule our trips to the stores and to holiday get togethers.

Christmas and New Years is the special time of the year for reflection on all the wonderful things that have happened during the past year. It is also a time to be planning what we hope to accomplish in the New Year.

My great hope is that we take the time now to give ourselves a gift when the New Year comes around. Let’s consider giving ourselves permission to know “when to say when.” You know what I am talking about. We have thought about “drinking responsibly” for a long time. This year let’s start thinking about “eating responsibly.”

Think about getting on the scale and weighing yourself today. Now imagine what it would be like, on the first day of the New Year, to get on the scale and see that you have not gained any weight during the holiday season.

Now there is a gift that is not only good for you, but also for your family and our community. It is a gift to yourself we need to consider the whole year through. You are worth it!

Enjoy the Journey,
Bob

Bob Oro is a husband, parent, dentist and children’s advocate in Oro Valley

Excerpt: “Enjoy the Journey” by Robert J. Oro