Battle of the Christmas Bulge

It's a good thing the economy is still in the tank, because that means most companies aren't sending out baskets of snacks, bottles of wine and boxes of chocolate for Christmas this year.

I usually get a couple of Christmas gifts at the office, but this year the holiday greetings were limited to a half dozen cards from people feeling good enough about 2010 to shell out 44 cents for a stamp and a slew of e-cards from the majority of companies that are still unsure about where the economy is headed. (I admit I had to go to the postal service Web site to look up how much a stamp costs these days; I thought it was 47 cents.)

But there was that one 2 lb. box of chocolates from that new construction company that's getting a lot of work. I offered a few pieces to some co-workers and brought the rest home to share with my husband and son. I'm pretty sure I ate at least a pound of it on my own though.

Then there was the cupcake at the daycare Christmas party, the leftover brownies from the gift boxes my company purchased for our regular customers (I had two) and the cookies and brownies I baked today (two brownies and six cookies eaten, so far).

And tonight when we get together with my parents, siblings and their children, there will be beef bourguignon, bread, pie, cookies, chocolate and wine. I can't wait!

Then there will be Saturday morning, Dec. 26. That's when the scale will tell me what I already fear: that I've gained 2 or 3 or 5 lbs.

Every year, I think, I'm going to be good this year. I can be disciplined enough to make it through a couple of weeks without giving in, can't I? Sure, it's easy to think that way when I don't have 2 lbs. of chocolate sitting on my desk and before I'm too tired from shopping to make dinner so I stop by Arby's on my way home. By mid-December, I usually decide it's OK to splurge and eat the chocolate or cookies. Christmas only comes once a year, after all. Thank God.

That's what New Year's resolutions are for, to get rid of those 5 lbs. gained over the holidays (and the other 20 or 25 I'm planning to lose any day now). And that's what I'll be telling myself a week from now, when I'm celebrating New Year's Eve with my friends, eating my third cookie and drinking my second glass of wine. Here's to a slimmed down 2010! Cheers!