Avoid the After-Effects of Holiday Food Indulging

            Has filling your stomach to maximum capacity become the norm for you this holiday season?  Have you looked at the plates at the party buffets and wondered, “Why so small?  Now it’s going to be extra work just to fill it up multiple times!” Have you been popping cookies like vitamins?  Have you been using peppermint candy canes in lieu of toothpaste to freshen your breath?

            When the Christmas trees come down and the bathroom scales come back out, when the clothes you just unwrapped from family members, to whom you SWORE you were a size “medium,” ride up to where your waist USED to be, and when the season dictates that it is no longer fashionable to be “fat and jolly,” it’s time to deal with the after-effects of the holidays.  

            On Monday, January 7^th, at 7:30 PM in the Cranford Community Center, the Cranford Public Library is offering, free of charge, a lecture entitled “Learning From the Obesity Epidemic.”  The lecture will be presented by Richard Perlmutter, founder of Abington Nutrition Services. Mr. Perlmutter has a B.S. in Dairy Technology from the University of Illinois and an M.S. in Food Science from Michigan State University, and has been employed in many positions in the food industry. He is a member of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, the nation’s largest organization of nutrition professionals, and has peer reviewed articles published in two nutrition related research journals. For several years, he wrote a nutrition column for a community newspaper, and has conducted several courses on various aspects of nutrition.  His lecture will focus on how obesity has shaped (pardon the pun!) our nation, as well as us individually.  It may provide just the food for thought, (pardon the pun again), to jump start you in the right direction.

            Don’t want to go out to hear the lecture, or don’t have any clothes that fit you anymore to allow you out of the house?  Then stay at home and get inspired.  You can participate in a teleseminar in the privacy of your own home, entitled “The Mind-Blowingly Simple Sugar Detox Program.”  Teleseminar times are January 9^th, 13^th, and 18^th at 6:30 PM. 

            Or, if you’re REALLY motivated, you may want to check out the Fit For Life Fitness Center, at 12 Commerce Drive, in Cranford.  Check out their website at http://www.fflfitness.com .  They  offer a knowledgable and friendly staff, three spacious levels for training, working out on over 60 pieces of state-of-the-art cardio machines including ellipticals, treadmills, bikes,  and steppers, and lots of different group exercise, yoga, and Zumba sessions.  They open very early, stay open very late, and offer very reasonable, non-commitment packages.  And because it’s local, it’s a great way to spend time with friends while doing something good for yourself. 

            So enjoy those holiday dinners.  Pour on that extra gravy.  Challenge Santa to a fat red suit contest.  By next summer, we can change over to a swimsuit contest!  Well, we can at least look and feel better.  And we can once again fit into those size medium sweaters we get for Christmas.  Or a theater seat.  Or a doorway without sucking in our breath…. We WANT to Avoid the After-Effects of Holiday Food Indulging… Just sayin.’