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11-25-09

So many people talk about all the weight they gain over the holidays....really the formula is simple- calories in must be equal or less than calories burned.  The problem with Americans is we look at Thanksgiving as an eating festival. We sleep in, cook, sit on the couch watching football eating and drinking, chow down a massive dinner and then lay down because we are so full.  And we take Turkey, where in general is healthy and low in fat and we a- deep fry it, b- inject it with butter or c- cover it in oil. And now it is fattening and sure to pack on the fat.  Then there are green beans, lovely food and we add condensed (what does that mean anyway?) mushroom soup, sour cream and sometimes mayonnaise and turn it into a 500 calorie "side" dish.  I could go on and on with the butter ladden mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes with more butter and brown sugar and then taking a very healthy and relatively low calorie pie- pumpkin and adding 400 calories of whipped cream.

For the over trained, obsessive triathletes all this food is fine.  Why.....end of the season so most are too lean to sustain the winter, once in a while it really is okay.  And well for the rest of us we will get up and hammer a long ride or run to earn the right to indulge tomorrow.

For us....we are riding 3 hours, hilly and hard and then coming home to cook for a group of triathletes, 2 who just finished Ironman AZ last weekend, so they have earned the right to eat the most and the rest of us will train hard enough to justify the food!  For me....I'll skip the pie and desert for another glass of Egg Nog and Brandy!!