What is Your Strategy For the Fight?

And no - I don't mean fisticuffs. I am a lover, not a fighter. I am talking about the internal fight that it takes a person who loves food, and really loves fattening food, to not inhale a week's worth of calories and fat grams in one day. OK - that may be a bit of an exaggeration, but you get my drift. The holiday's are a nightmare for anyone who is trying to eat low calorie, low fat and low sodium. Everything seems to come along with heavy cream, butter, salt, butter, sugar...and did I mention butter? Our only hope is to pray there is a fresh veggie tray, and then will yourself to stay away from the dip!

So I have been working on devising a plan for myself for weeks now. How to make sure I get my exercise in, and don't treat my return trip to Minnesota as a workout-free vacation, like I usually do. How to keep my calorie/fat intake to a minimum while still enjoying myself, and not feeling completely deprived. It is going to be a challenge - I am not deluding myself into believing it is going to be easy - but I am also sure I can do it. Here is what I've come up with so far:

• I have contacted a local gym, and will be going to do my weight lifting at 6 or 6:0am on Thursday. From there I am going to head to Dynamic Fitness, where Molly has been kind enough to throw an earlier bootcamp class in the mix, and let her kick my ass for a while.
• I am going to  hope and pray that the fact that I went and busted my rear in the morning will help me not want to eat like a pig the whole day. It has been working for the last couple of days in my cocoon - so I'm going to take it out in the real world, and see how it goes.
• I will not eat appetizers. I will eat only at mealtime, and I will not go back for seconds.
• I will have all of the things that I want, but in much smaller quantities than usual.
• I know that people in the know suggest getting out and going for a walk after lunch, but let's be serious. It is cold, and I am dressed up. Well - maybe not dressed up....but I am in jeans instead of FPs. I am not going out and freezing my ass off (the result if I walk slow enough to not turn into a complete sweaty mess) to go for a walk. Instead, I will try and help do dishes (I saw something about a 150# person burns 156 cals/hour washing dishes) and then I will remove myself from the food.
• For dinner, I will repeat the same plan.

This isn't a diet with a deadline. This is my life. I have to figure out how to make it adaptable to real situations, because I am hoping to be around for a few more Thanksgivings.

What tips do you have for enjoying your holiday, without blowing your whole week?