Holidays make us crazy. Everyone has somewhere to go, something to do. Hectic schedules, big family dinners, last minute party details - even small distractions could throw us completely off course. So why is it that we let the holiday season itself keep us from sticking to our eating plans? Many people can make the conscious decision to indulge in this or that and then jump right back on track. But making that decision, and actually doing it, are two different things. We can have the best intentions in the world, but if we don't follow up on them, they can be our undoing. I, for one, used to be guilty of putting off my healthy eating or exercise plan until after the holidays. I knew it would be difficult with all the tempting foods around. It was much easier to just wait until the feasting was over. But think about it. Are the holidays truly ever over? No, not really.

It wasn't vitamin C. Although it was known for centuries that a lack of fresh food would cause scurvy, and that certain foods, especially citrus fruits, cabbage, and sauerkraut, could prevent it, the factor responsible wasn't identified until a few years after our front-runner.

Autumn is leaf season, deer season, Halloween season, and - Brussels sprouts season! However, Brussels sprouts are one of those vegetables that are often invoked as evidence that vegetables in general are loathsome, nowhere near as tasty as some other categories of foods. I, too, once disliked Brussels sprouts, yet I have come not only to like them, but to love them, and so has my formerly Brussels-sprout-phobic husband.

For the last glorious holiday weekend of the summer, a cookout seems mandatory. So call up some friends, throw some (light) beer in the cooler, fire up the barbecue, and let's make an end-of-summer feast that will be filling and memorable without any nutritional regrets. Includes her Low-Carb Salmon Recipe

Writing a column on convenience foods goes against the grain for me - I'm always nagging people to just cook something, will you, for crying out loud?! A little simple, plain cooking is your best defense against bad food, not to mention a sky-high food budget. But I am aware that many people rarely eat anything that takes more preparation than three minutes in the microwave. Even folks who do cook occasionally have days when they just want something fast.

Walden Farms BBQ Sauces Nutritional Info

I find the pronouncements from the dieticians and the medical industry more and more amusing every day. I recently read a column by a dietician who admitted that all of the research demonstrates that a low carbohydrate diet works for weight loss, and contrary to the dire predictions, actually results in better blood work than a low fat/high carb diet. She also admitted that there have been no indications of a problem with low carb diets long term. Still, she said, people shouldn't go on low carb diets because, after all, antioxidants are terribly important, and to get them we need to eat fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.

Each week Dana will be writing helpful and entertaining articles about the low carb lifestyle at Carb Smart Magazine healthy eating and anything else she wants to write about.

Asian Cole Slaw recipe by Di Bauer.

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