Who can eat just one, handful?
It’s that time of year. Kid’s activities in full swing between birthday parties, sports banquets and playdates, you try to grab a bite of something reasonably healthy to get you through. Yet, even with the best intentions, we come up short and soon…very soon, the kid foods at these events become your staple. By the end of day, week, month or year, you end up feeling like an overstuffed goldfish cracker.
We have all been there….at yet another kid event telling ourselves “I am not going to eat the pizza or birthday cake this time. Well, okay maybe just one bite because my daughter isn’t going to finish her slice of pizza and I am alittle hungry. It is lunch time afterall and one bite will hold me over until I get out of this party and home for some healthy adult food.” We know what happens next. A very slippery slope that has us topping off 2 slices of pizza with the “oh no, I couldn’t birthday cake.” Leaving the party we vow to never do that again. We tell ourselves “at least I didn’t have the ice cream with my cake,” which makes us feel better and we promise to plan better next time. And then it happens again and again. Not because we love kid’s party food ( although I do love Safeway birthday cake frosting or any frosting for that matter:) but because we, as women & moms, put ourselves on the back burner when it comes to planning and taking care of our own needs. In my case, it happened for about 10 years, guess I’m a slow -learner.
I witness countless women making a day of waffle bites from their kid’s breakfast, lattes, finishing off kids ice cream after school , a glass of wine or two, followed by a few french fries and crusts of grilled cheese sandwiches the kids left on their plate. I even had a friend tell me her dinner consisted of goldfish crackers from her son’s high chair and wine every night because her husband worked late, so why cook? Any of this sound familiar?
And yet, women with young children are some of the biggest calorie burners out there ( read, constant motion) and still struggle to lose or maintain their weight. Those bites, sips and tastes add up quickly over time and sadly, we hardly realize we ate them. They are not satisfying, do not fill us up and leave us nutritionally out of balance. This scenario on a regular basis will leave you even more fatigued and looking around for the quickest pick me up..more sugar please?
Ladies, take advantage of this time in your life with your revved up metabolisms. Don’t waste all of that bonus calorie “burn” on things like goldfish crackers and pizza you have tasted 1000 times before…save the bites, sips & tastes for the special occasion great homemade food that is worth every bite.
Eating well takes planning. Plan ahead before heading out to these events….eat BEFORE you go (even it means you will arrive 15 mins late), bring an apple for the car or stick with the fresh veggie platter or cheese stick at the party. NEVER show up hungry…you know what will happen.
Put yourself first. Take care of your health and your family will forever benefit.
lolahealth 