It is the 4th of July weekend. Everyone thinks of fireworks this weekend, and everyone thinks of food as well. It goes hand in hand. It is time to BBQ, and eat... eat... eat, then blow things up. I have always struggled with controlling my food choices during the holidays. I think it is because most of my holiday memories is centered around food. We plan the activities around the meals.
This has always been the case for my family. So the thought of going to my family BBQ this Monday and not loading up my plate with ribs and all the other goodness that will be there does make me a little sad. I posted something like this on my facebook wall before I started this post, and a new friend of mine, Shannon, reminded me of why I am doing this and reminded me to have a plan for the weekend. (Also, Shannon is a rock star. She ran a 50 miler this weekend with her husband and a few others from Nixa Running. She did it to raise money to fight diabetes. Very cool person!)
So I will eat a few of the things I love, but just a bit, or just one. I know if I don't, I will be angry about it later. I need to go into it with a plan and listen to my body. Stop when I am satisfied, not full. Eat more veggies and healthy options.
What do you do to help you make smart food choices during the holidays? We all need to stick together on this one.
2 comments:
I find that so many of our (extended) family meals are focused on the meat and dessert side of things. So my plan is to bring some fruit or veggies that I love.
One trick that has worked well for me is to eat a bowl of salad (I keep one of the pre-mixed tubs of mixed greens in the fridge as a staple) before leaving to go meet up with family for a holiday celebration dinner. It's not enough to make me feel full, but it does kind of take the edge off and tame the feelings of real hunger that tend to make me lose all thought of portion control.
The trick is to eat the salad (or other equally healthful substitute food with plenty of fiber... steamed broccoli works well, even a modest sandwich works) at home well *before* going out. If you try and bring the salad with you to eat, you run into the same problem. Delayed start of dinner means you're sitting down to eat when you're in real hunger mode, meaning you're likely to suffer from portion distortion when you go to load your plate.
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