Take Time for Living

Holiday travel news mixed but general good for travelers this year

If you're traveling for the U.S. Thanksgiving Holiday Weekend, whether to a vegas hotel or just grandma's house across the state, chances are you're on your way -- and may not be reading this until AFTER your holiday trip.

But I can't help but think of the mixed news I'm reading about holiday travel, both this coming weekend and later this year around Christmas and New Year's. On the one hand, I hear air travel is a bit easier because of a decline in air travelers and because of new "family traveler" check-through lines at major airports. On the other hand, CNN has warned of some low-level government alerts about possible increased terrorist activity/plotting in New York City.

As always, travel in America around the holidays becomes a real adventure. So if you're traveling for this holiday weekend or any other, be very careful and patient -- and have a safe, GREAT trip!

Do you shop online for the holidays? How much or how often?

So what do you buy on line during the holiday seasons? Do you actually shop for gifts online, or do you save online shopping for office supplies and fun stuff on eBay?

Or maybe you give office supplies and stuff you buy on eBay for holiday gifts? Nothing wrong with that. Heck, given the state of our economy, friends might be happy if you find printer ink cartridge deals for them!

I ask about your online shopping habits for a reason. If you look around this blog you'll notice (shameless plug) links to a number of online shopping websites -- many of which, but not ALL, I make affiliate commissions from. Consider that a sort of disclaimer. If you've been paying attention, you'll note that I have a disclosure and privacy policy page that discusses such things.

As someone with an interest in online shopping habits, I would be interested in knowing how much or how little shopping you do online in general and especially for the major holiday seasons. Leave a comment and let us know.

Dieting? Enjoy special holiday meals anyway

From raw carrot sticks to Leptorexin diet formula, there are a million ways you can try to control your food intake and lose weight, a million diets and eating plans to help you keep the pounds or (or take the pounds off) during the upcoming holidays.

So you probably don't need any "inside tips" from an Old Fat Guy who's currently struggling to get the weight off, but this is MY blog, so I'll give you my best holiday meal tip as Thanksgiving Day approaches here in the U.S. Ready?

Enjoy all the food and fun of Thanksgiving Day with very little worry about how or what you eat. In other words, even if you're working to lose weight, you'll only frustrate yourself if you ignore the holiday goodies on a special "festive" meal day like Thanksgiving.

Of course, if you have medical problems and/or strict dietary restrictions given you by a doctor I in no way mean to ignore those!

But if you're just working to lose weight to through a good diet and exercise plan, you really will find yourself better off if you take Thanksgiving dinner "off" -- and Christmas dinner, too, if you celebrate and "feast" on Christmas. Above all, you will only undermine your determination if you insist on denying yourself special goodies on special holiday celebrations.

So enjoy Thanksgiving dinner in whatever special way you have to celebrate it.

Day after Thanksgiving, however, let the relatives, other family members, and friends deal with all those leftovers and get back down to business on a healthy lifestyle and healthy eating plan!