What’s your plan? It’s holiday season. Which means lots of celebrations, food and weight gain.

I mentioned to husband yesterday that I didn’t want to hand out any tasty Halloween candy this year. He laughed and said “Oh, yes we are. Leave it to me I’ll pick out the good stuff.”

How can I even suggest such a thing? I’m not in favor in handing out terrible tasting treats that no kid enjoys — I’m thinking of you candy corn! No, I just don’t want any candy that would tempt me. Snickers does nothing for me. Neither does Twix, Three Musketeers or Butterfingers. But we always get the stuff I like and I don’t want that temptation this year.

It’s part of my effort to navigate the upcoming holidays, where the one sure thing is weight gain.

This weekend I read a New York Times article that this is the week most Americans are at their lowest weight all year. But then the weight creeps back on thanks to Halloween candy, Thanksgiving, holiday parties, cookie exchanges, office potlucks, New Year’s Eve celebrations and of course all the dang bowl game parties. And despite New Year’s resolutions to drop some pounds, we don’t start losing those holiday pounds until about 5 months later. Wow!

So this year I’m committed to getting into ketosis over the holidays. With menopause, my hormones are out of whack and I’m trying to figure out my new sweet spot for fat-burning. Trying to do this during the holidays will be even harder unless I become a hermit, something I’m not willing to do…yet.

The game plan?
I plan to experiment with my carb and protein levels. I have a hunch I’m eating too much protein than what my body needs. I’m going to eat no more than 20g of total carbs a day. As for protein, I’m going to start eating at the low-end of my range (116g-149g a day), eating a little more on weight lifting days.

Now many of you experienced with ketosis may think it shouldn’t take me that long.  Normally I’d agree with you. But I have no idea how menopause will impact my efforts. That means a lot of experimenting.

To keep me on track during the holidays, the plan is pretty simple:

• No tempting Halloween candy — No Kit Kats, M&Ms, Reeses’s Peanut Butter Cups, or chocolate bars.
• Famine before feast — Start incorporating longer fasts (up to 72 hours) before a party or holiday meal. For me, when I break a fast, I’m unable to eat too much. It just gives me a horrible stomach ache.
• Bring a low carb dish I can eat — When hitting the holiday party circuit, I’ll try to bring something delicious and healthy that I can eat.
• Focus on family & friends, not food — Spending time with the ones you love is what this time is about. Not the food. Right?
• Eat before a party — Having a small fat-filled snack or meal before a party helps to curb the appetite.
• Low carb holiday meals — This is the easy one. Since I’m making Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners I control what’s on the menu.

The plan is simple…but not easy.

There are a lot of temptations that can easily get me off track. But I think it is more about getting into the mindset that these next couple of months are no different from any other day when it comes to food.