You see these articles all the time. “How to do” this or that, but do they REALLY live like that. Last week I wrote “15 Tips for Retrained Feasting. So I can talk the talk, but did I walk the walk? For the original article, go to: http://fatfamilyotherfwords.blogspot.com/2009/11/fifteen-tips-for-restrained-feasting.html Here’s my tally:
1 - Don’t skip meals. No problem here.
2 – Indulge a little. The operative phrase is “a little.” I had one piece of pie on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Perhaps that has a little too much.
3 - Small plates. Been doing this for years. I don’t need a huge plate, so why use it? It works year round.
4 - Pick protein. I like turkey, not a problem.
5 - Grab a garden. Good in theory, but fell apart in practice. Lisa invites me to her house when my kids are at their dad’s. She is a good midwestern cook, so there wasn’t a naked fruit or veggie to be found. Covered in marshmallows. Buried under cheese. It was delicious, but not no-cal.
My kids chose to have our dinner on Friday night. Since I worked Friday, Beth cooked. My rule for a 3 person Thanksgiving is one meat, one starch, one veggie and one dessert, but Beth wanted to make all her favorites. In addition to turkey, we had mashed potatoes from scratch, stuffing with apples and cranberries (m-m-m), baked sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, biscuits, gravy and apple pie. As a concession to me, Beth served marshmallows on the side for the sweet potatoes. I didn’t want to hurt her feeling, so yeah, I had a little of everything. She did a great job of cooking, but my diet was not in good shape.
Anyhow, I did NOT grab a garden, because no garden was available. Next year, I need to bring a dish that works with my diet. See point 10.\
6 - Less Booze. One glass of champagne at Lisa’s. One beer with my son. One glass large glass of eggnog. Not awful, but perhaps I should consider eggnog moderation.
7 – Don’t take a holiday from the gym. Again, it sounded good. In practice, I missed the mark. Wednesday night, Beth and I went to the movie after work. Good News: No popcorn. Bad News: No Gym. Thursday, I got home from Lisa’s after dark. Friday, our dinner was right after work. I tried to make up for it on the weekend by walking a total of 9 miles – 4 ½ each day. I’m not as fast as on the treadmill, but it must help.
8 - Sleep. Except for Black Friday, I want fine here.
9 - Relax. We-e-l-l-l. This is a stressful time of year in advertising.
10 – Bring what you need. Completely overlooked this one. I’ve always brought booze to Lisa’s. There’s no reason I can’t bring 2 things.
11 – Avoid temptation – literally. I didn’t go to buffets, but I do understand how tempting they are.
12 – Wait. Rather than loading up and going back for more, I gathered a moderately full small plate. Tried to eat slowly. (A problem for me.) And then waited a while before considering additional stuff. It did help. I tend to keep eating because others are. It’s not like I was hungry.
13 - Wear slightly tight pants. I’ve lost weight, so none of my pants are that tight. I did not wear elastic waists.
14 - Plan events that aren’t food focused. We did a movie. I wanted to do the early morning Black Friday thing, but neither child wanted to get up at dawn. Can’t say that I blame them.
15 – Avoid emotional eating. Not that emotional. I’ve been divorced a long time. A holiday without my kids is not a crisis. And really, it’s not WITHOUT, just relocated.
Summary: I totally missed what I should have done – bring something diet friendly. On the plus side, I tried to counteract it with exercise.
