Get Smart

I love, love, love going home.  I like my family to a point of weirdness.  Maybe it’s because I’ve had to move so far away for school and work, or maybe it’s just because I start to appreciate family more and more as I grow older, but going home, to me, is the ultimate treat.  We never do anything crazy– just a lot of relaxing and hanging out.  But to me, that’s the best part about it! 

Unfortunately, a big part of that relaxing for my family has always been EATING.  We are BIG eaters in my family.  We plan lunch as we eat breakfast, and dinner as we eat lunch.  We love to eat out.  We love to eat at home.  We love to eat food on a plane, we love to eat food on a train.  We love to eat food in the rain, we love to eat…

…but hate to gain! 

(thank you for allowing me that Seussian moment☺)

No one in my family has a weight problem.  I wouldn’t say any of us are *ahem* super-skinny, but as much as we love to eat, we love to exercise, so it’s always generally balanced out.  I would say that as a whole, we’re a pretty healthy bunch.

Unfortunately, over the last few years, I’ve noticed something pretty disturbing.  Every time I go home, I seem to pack on anywhere from 3-10 pounds.  I’ve never thought too much about it, because I usually lose it in the week or two after I leave.  I kind of think of going home as a vacation, and who doesn’t gain a little weight when they’re on vacation?

Still, it’s starting to get old.  More and more, I’ve started to think, wouldn’t it be nice if that just didn’t happen?  If I could go home feeling healthy, and leave feeling just as good?  Because really, for me, that’s what it’s about– feeling good.  I’m at a healthy weight for my height.  Sure, there are things that I’d change about my body if I could (like 99.9 % of the population), but overall, I’m pretty happy with where I’m at.  So while three or four pounds might not seem like a lot, it’s not really the pounds that I hate.  I hate feeling bloated, and feeling like my jeans are just a bit snugger than they were when I got off the plane a week earlier.  Plus, I hate the way it makes me feel about myself– like I have no willpower or self-control.  I should be able to say no to seconds or that third glass of wine, but when I go home, I am the ultimate yes (wo)man.  Sure, I’ll have another piece of pie!  Nothing counts on vacation!

Except that it does count.

Last night, we enjoyed that delicious Cooking Light crumble.  It was sweet and delicious, and pretty healthy too.  But…that was not the original dessert choice.  Earlier yesterday, my mom showed me the recipe for the cake she was planning on bringing over for dessert.  It was a pumpkin pie cake, and it looked delicious.  But as I looked over the recipe, I was taken aback– three sticks of butter?? One and a half cups of sugar?  AND an entire package of cake mix?  Geez!

I talked to my mom about how indulgent the cake looked, and we agreed to look around for a healthier recipe.  Enter the Cooking Light crumble.  We made that instead, and it was delicious!  Not delicious in the way that something with three sticks of butter is, but still, it was really very good. 

And that’s the thing– I’m all for desserts with three sticks of butter.  On birthdays, or holidays, or big celebrations, I think that fancy, indulgent desserts should be enjoyed to the fullest.  But to just have a dessert like that on a regular old Sunday night?  That’s a little much. 

That’s when it occured to me– the reason I gain so much weight when I go home is that I never view the days and nights as regular old weeknights (which is what they are).  I’ve convinced myself that every day is a vacation, and every night a celebration.  And when you’re in that mindset, the pounds pile on pretty quickly.

Last night’s dessert swap got me thinking– what if I focused on making smart choices when I was home?  Nothing big, nothing that would leave me feeling deprived…just little choices that might add up to less weight gain.  Little choices that would leave me feeling happy and healthy at the end of the week, as opposed to bloated and blah. 

My goal for this week is to work on making these smart choices.  I’ll call them “get smart” choices, and I’ll be posting them throughout the week!

Get Smart Choice #1:

Normally when I wake up, I stumble into the kitchen and make a HUGE pot of coffee, which I then proceed to pour a GIANT cup from.  I’ve never really thought about it, but starting the day on such a dehydrating, jitter-inducing note can’t be that great for my body.

So, this morning, I still made the giant pot of coffee.  But instead of drinking a cup right away, I drank a HUGE cup of water, as well as some OJ with spirulina and Amazing Grass SuperFood.  I feel healthier already ☻

You know what makes Amazing Grass sludge taste better? 

Drinking it from a glittery penguin cup meant for a 3 year-old:

DElicious…not really.  Choke-down-able, is more like it ☺.

I encourage you to make get smart choices throughout the holidays…feel free to share them with me! I’d love to hear how you stay healthy during this time of indulgence!