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One of the most common New Year’s resolutions is to eat better. Why? Because in December we all eat like crazy people, that’s why. Gingerbread, candy canes, limited time only seasonal pumpkin lattes, a thousand varieties of cookies, jumbo-sized boxes of chocolates, even the highly caloric yet unappealing fruitcake. The list goes on and on. And the craziest thing about these temptations? You don’t even have to go out and find them like you do the rest of the year. In December people just give them to you wherever you go. We even had people come to our door and hand them to us! (Thanks, neighbors.) Full disclosure: I might have also gone a little over the top trying out yummy cookie recipe after cookie recipe

As easy as it is for folks to pack on the pounds in December, it is even easier for Mike and me. That’s because, in addition to Christmas and New Year’s Eve, we also celebrate our nephew’s birthday, Mike’s birthday, and our wedding anniversary.

A couple days into 2012 Mike was looking at himself in the mirror when he said, “It is too bad that no one needs anyone to dress up as Santa in January because if they did I would make an awesome one.” Mike was kind enough not to say what I could dress up as (a young, hip Mrs. Claus maybe?), but he did suggest we get our cookie/chocolate/pumpkin latte/everything else habit under control. I agreed.

Ten days later we are eating a lot better, even if at first Mike complained about how hard it is to get used to not eating cookies every day. The key for us is that we are NOT on a diet. Diets, for both of us, too often fail. Instead, we are just eating healthier and better as often as possible. That means lots of fruits and vegetables, less starches, and, of course, a whole lot less cookies. But because we aren’t on a diet we still have a cookie here and there, and we still go out to dinner. The only difference now is we find something on the menu that is a little healthier than our usual choices.

I haven’t told Mike this yet, but he is looking a lot less like Santa, which hopefully means I am looking a bit less like a young and hip Mrs. Claus. How do you all get back on track after eating your way through the holidays?