I feel like it is a pretty safe assumption to make that many people who are trying to lose weight, live a healthier lifestyle, or whatever health goal have found that the holiday season has, at one point or another, been their undoing. I feel comfortable making this assumption because this has been true for me twice. Before this 75 pound and multi inch loss I tried twice before to attain a healthier size. The first time was in college. I managed to lose 15 lbs my sophomore year, and after Thanksgiving I gained 5 of it back, and that was it. The second time was after I graduated college. I managed to lose 20 pounds, and by the following Christmas I managed to put 12 of it back on, and 6 years and 1 child later had packed on another whopping 47 pounds (yikes!) This is my first holiday season since finally shedding ALL of the fat that I had ever wanted to lose, so naturally I’ve been working to not let history repeat itself. Not to mention, I LOVE HOLIDAY FOOD. (Can you hear me now?) I love it. Planning a Thanksgiving menu is up there with Christmas morning for me. I love making cookies, candy, and fudge for Christmas! I love the flavors and decadence that come with this time of year. How in the world was I ever going to make it?
Well, my dear readers, I am pleased to announce that for the first time ever I have managed to enjoy the food that I love, and NOT gain any fat. That’s right people! I am the same size and weight now that I was in October. I have actually figured out a way to balance things out, and since this is, to me, a very important accomplishment, I am going to share my methods and tips with you. So without further ado I give you “The Unapologetic Mom’s Guide to Enjoying and Surviving the Holidays.” One thing that is important to note is that those other two times when I lost weight my method was fundamentally flawed both times. I never really developed healthy living habits. The first time I just did my best to out exercise my bad diet, which is great when you’re 19, but not quite the same at 31. Not to mention that after Thanksgiving I never got back on the exercise bandwagon. Maintaining that level of exercise for an extended period of time, let alone forever, would have been impossible anyway. Exercise is important, but the most important thing is what you are eating. Which brings me to the second time that I lost weight. I counted calories. I gave myself 1500 calories per day, and there were some days where if I baked cookies, then all I would eat that day was 1500 calories worth of cookies. Besides being absolutely terrible for my overall health cookies are not a filling food. They don’t contain the essential nutrients that you need, and they do not keep your body properly fueled and satisfied. This time definitely is different. As stated in previous posts I’ve worked to develop healthier habits. I eat healthier foods and make smarter choices. I don’t count calories because it’s not a long time solution. I pay attention to what I’m eating and my portion sizes. I properly fuel my body. So now that we’ve established the difference between the other times, and this time let’s repeat that step one is to keep up your healthy eating habits. If you indulge in a sweet, keep the portion size in check. Be mindful. The other thing to do is to keep up your regular exercise routine. This doesn’t give you carte blanche to eat whatever you would like, but it does keep you in check to make sure that you are further keeping up your healthy habits. If you want to give yourself a pass on Thanksgiving or Christmas, that’s okay. But, a good rule of thumb is to never go more than two days without exercising. After that it gets really difficult to motivate yourself to start back up. So now the important part...taking part in the holiday. Like I said before, I love holiday foods. I love making them. Some of the best memories are made over a double boiler of chocolate, and this year my daughter has been quite the sous chef. And let’s not forget about the Thanksgiving and Christmas meals, and the parties, and the food gifts! These can be a sugar and calorie filled minefield. So, here are my tips for indulging without going to excess.
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It’s been awhile since I have posted. I could use any number of reasons as to why it’s been so long, all of which would be valid, but one of the main reasons I will give is I just didn’t know what to say. Not because I had nothing to say, but because I had so much to say that I didn’t know where to go next, and then, as they say, life got in the way. Some of you, dear readers, have commented on how you look forward to using my advice to get healthier, and to you and anyone else who maybe started looking forward to what I might say next, I would like to offer the rare, but not unheard of apology, and present a peace offering of a holiday craft/treat at the end of this post. So now the holiday season is upon us, and thinking about making amends has me thinking about making amends with people and circumstances in your life. To many people the holidays represent charity, togetherness, magic, and joy. Seeing this holiday through the eyes of my 3 year old, and how every light and tree means something special has made me realize how important joy is. We all have people or circumstances in our lives that either actively sap joy from us, or give us a feeling of apathy. What I have come to realize is that this season, and life is too fleeting and too precious to waste on people or things that don’t bring you joy. There is nothing worse than having to deal with things or people that make you work to regain the feeling of happiness and magic that not only should be present now, but through the whole year. “Fake it until you feel it” is a popular phrase, but honestly, should we have to? Sometimes, yes, this is necessary at. But, in terms of who we allow into our personal space, and what we allow to bring us down, life is too special to waste any time dealing with people on a regular basis who bring us any less than joy, kindness, and the feeling that we are worthy. Just some food for thought for this holiday season. Use it as a time to figure out who and what brings you joy and pursue it! I promised you a peace offering, and here it is….Marshmallow Snowmen. I had this idea because I bought a bag of marshmallows for a Thanksgiving game that I saw on “The Chew”, and wanted a way to get rid of the rest of them. Christmas only comes around once a year, and in the spirit of the holidays and healthy living you have to indulge, and hopefully making this little treat will become a new holiday tradition for you as it now has for us. This is a great little food craft that my 3 year old had a blast making, and it’s foolproof. There is no way to mess it up, and if you are so inclined, it could even make a great gift. I will share the method to make these snowmen as well as my basic hot chocolate method. You will need marshmallows(medium sized works best), red and green spiral mints, white chocolate, dark/milk/or semisweet chocolate chips, toothpicks, and wax paper. Cover your workspace with wax paper. (I taped it to the counter) Crush your mints (we did this in a baggy with a meat hammer), and put the pieces on a plate. Melt your chocolates separately. You won’t need to melt very much because this project doesn’t use much. I did this in the microwave in 30 second increments stirring after every 30 secs until it was melted. Put some unmelted brown chocolate chips separately on a plate. Dip one side of the marshmallow in either chocolate, and dip into whatever candy. We dipped in white chocolate and then into the mints for a scarf, and dipped into the semisweet chocolate, and then into the unmelted chips for a hat. Afterwards, use the toothpick and brown chocolate to paint a face onto your marshmallow. I found that this works best if you use the toothpick more like a stamp than a brush. Once they set, and this only takes about 10 mins or so, you can use them, or wrap and store. Eat them as they are, or put them in hot chocolate, which is what we did. To make our hot chocolate I heat milk on the stove, and put 2 tsp of unsweetened cocoa and 1 tsp of sugar into the cup. For whatever size mug you use, I would still recommend a 2:1 ratio of cocoa to sugar. I have found that pouring the hot milk on the “mix” works better than heating the milk in the cup, and then adding the mix. If you want peppermint cocoa you can steep a peppermint tea bag in your hot cocoa after you mix, or steep the tea in the milk on the stove to infuse the tea into your cocoa. (I do this with my coffee, along with unsweetened cocoa powder to get a peppermint mocha thing too.) I also like to add a little cinnamon into a really chocolately cocoa.
I like making hot cocoa this way because it is simple, inexpensive, and as I have said in previous posts, I like controlling how much sugar goes into my food. Audrey loves this cocoa, and she absolutely loved making these marshmallow snowmen. This is a quick and easy craft that anyone can do! Hopefully you have as much fun as we did! |
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March 2017
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