You’ve heard it time and again. For many people – and I may be one of them – the best part of Thanksgiving is the leftovers. Don’t get me wrong – I love the holiday and all the preparations. But after a couple of days of gearing up, it seems like the meal goes by in a flash. So it’s nice to have a leisurely weekend to get creative with the leftovers.

While I don’t know exactly what’s in your ‘frig the day after the holiday, it’s safe to say that you’re likely to have turkey, some potatoes (white and or sweet), a bit of cranberry sauce, a little stuffing, a dab of gravy and probably a container of the ever-popular green bean casserole. Reheating is fine, but after a couple of meals, I’m usually looking for a change in taste.

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Yes, you can pack on five pounds between now and January – and it’s easier than you might think. Most people only add a pound or two over the holidays, but when you look at what a few extra indulgences can cost you, the calories add up fast. To gain five pounds, you’ll need to take in an extra 17,500 calories or so between now and January Here’s how to get the job done.

First, turn the clock back a couple of weeks – to October 31. The average Halloween bucket holds about 250 pieces of candy at about 35 calories each. If you’re like most people, you bought too much – so you’ve been putting away a couple of pieces a day for the last two weeks. That’s given you a 1000 calorie head start.

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If you’ve spent any time staring into the dairy case lately, there are enough milk choices to make your head spin. No longer is the decision simply whether to buy regular, reduced fat, low fat or skim – we’ve got goat’s milk, and milks made from soybeans, almonds, rice, oats and even hemp.  But making nutritional comparisons among all these choices is no easy task.

Cow’s milk and goat’s milk are great protein sources, but some people can’t tolerate their natural lactose.  Almond milk is lowest in calories, but it contains very little protein  – and some brands can have a fair amount of salt.  Hemp milk, although it provides some healthy omega-3 fatty acids, doesn’t offer much protein, either.  Neither do rice or oat milk, but at least they’re naturally mild in flavor – so some might prefer them over soy milk which can be a tad bitter. So how do you choose?

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Kids and breakfast – it’s an uneasy alliance. On a typical school day, breakfast often gets shelved in favor of a few extra minutes of sleep, an “I’m not hungry” claim, or a waiting school bus. And when they do eat, parents pat themselves on the back because, ‘at least they ate something’ before their kids went charging out the door. But just because a belly is full, doesn’t mean the brain and muscles are getting the fuel they need.

Recently, Herbalife sponsored a survey* among parents of children aged 6-12, to get an idea of how many kids usually have breakfast at home in the morning before going off to school, and also to find out what they’re typically eating. Of the more than 1100 parents surveyed nationwide, 73 percent said that their kids ate breakfast at home every day before going off to school – while only about 5 percent reported that their kids always skipped it.

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