Willpower, where art thou?

Oh sure, life is all about choices. Instead of drinking wine, I'll order a diet soda or unsweet iced tea. I could gobble up a big plate of fried shrimp with a side of hush puppies, but instead I'll opt for the grilled option. Although lounging on the sofa is mighty tempting, I'll zip up to the top floor and work out on the elliptical machine. Of course, I only follow these rules some of the time. Otherwise I'd be a veteran of the Victoria's Secret catwalk if I had that kinda willpower 24/7.  Sometimes I eat dessert first. Or just dessert, like a frozen cheesecake straight out of the cardboard box. But seriously, those things are kid portion, right?

I've really been looking forward to our trip back to the US for Christmas vacation, sinking my teeth into some good ol' southern cooking and Tex-Mex. I'm talking about green beans seasoned with bacon drippings and a touch of sugar. Buttery biscuits smothered in country gravy. Guacamole made fresh at our table with an unlimited basket of hot, paper thin tortilla chips and a side of queso. 

Realising this anticipated zillion calorie count means I need to walk rather than fly the roundtrip UK to Texas route to stave off the Christmas can't zip your pants by New Years day glut, I figure I'll need to make some decisions in advance so I don't fall upon my favourite goodies like a starved animal. 

I found this chart and think it's really interesting to see a side-by-side size comparison of various pies. Good thing pecan has never been my favourite since it's like pouring a 5 lb bag of granulated sugar down my gullet. And injecting fat cells straight into my thighs. The trick is keeping the pumpkin to just one regular slice. Although I wish it weren't true, it seems calories do count when they're consumed standing over the kitchen island with a fork in hand eating one bite at a time straight from the pie plate.