Posts Tagged out of town guests
Let’s Have a Plan for Thanksgiving Day
Posted by Matt Hoover in General on November 25th, 2009
It’s heeere…. A day that strikes fear in many trying to stick to a nutrition plan. Thanksgiving. I want to share what my day is going to be like tomorrow and why I am not worried about whether or not I will be able to “make it through” one of the most notorious days for over eating.
As I said yesterday, Thanksgiving use to be a day for me to consume mass amounts of delicious foods and get rip roaring drunk while watching a crappy team (Detroit Lions) lose another Thanksgiving day game. Things have changed a lot for me, at least some things. I don’t eat enough food to induce a food coma and I don’t get rip roaring drunk, but the Lions are still a crappy team.
Here is what my day is going to be like tomorrow. If you choose to implement some of these things you can save yourself the emotional distress of having blown right past your alloted calorie count for the day.
I am lucky in that my gym is open in the morning. Many gyms are open until around noon. I will get up and head to the gym where I will partake in a spin class. After class I will sit in the sauna and do some stretching. I love the sauna because I get a good sweat and it really helps my tight old muscles relax.
When I get home I’ll help Suzy clean up the house and then I’m off to cut and split some wood. Chopping wood is an amazing core workout. Not only will I get a workout, but I’ll save money on heating costs by using our wood stove.
We will eat around 2 pm. On the menu at the Hoover house, Turkey (not deep fried), mashed potatoes using red potatoes and prepared with skim milk and chicken broth, a green salad, fresh green beans that are steamed, sweet potatoes without all the candy on top (gasp), and a couple deserts. Suzy’s low cal pumpkin pie pudding and mini pecan pies (the size of a Reece’s peanut butter cup) with fat free cool whip.
We always start our meals off with the salad. It helps us fill up on good stuff and curbs the urge to over eat on everything else. Here is where it gets tricky and where many of us fall apart. After we are done eating we will put all of the food away so it’s not setting out to tempt us the rest of the day. Maybe the most important thing that we do is package up any left over desert and send it home with whoever wants it.
As we are cleaning we chat with family and enjoy their company. When everything is put away we sit around for a while and then we go for a walk. We have found that we can talk just as well and maybe even more while out for a walk than we can sitting in front of the tv.
Yes, we do eat left overs. Since we know how everything was prepared we can confidently enjoy leftovers for the next 3 days just like everyone else.
That is my plan for tomorrow. In order to be successful with your nutrion you need to have one too. Maybe this is the year that you start new healthy traditions. Maybe this is the year that your family sees you as a role model and decides they want to get healthy themselves. Maybe this is the year that you don’t just survive the hloidays but thrive!
Enjoy the day and remeber that it isn’t necessarily about food and overindulgence but a time to give thanks and enjoy the company of those that mean the most to you.
What To Do When Family Is Visiting
Posted by Matt Hoover in General on February 18th, 2009
I am a creature of habit. I like schedules, I have my own meal plan, I like to workout my way, I like things on my terms.
This past week my dad came out to visit. It would be the first time he has met my son Jax who is 5 months old. I was really excited that he was coming, but I also had a little bit of nervousness. I have been on my new workout and diet routine for a while now and I was worried that having him here was going to make it difficult to stick to both.
I explained to my dad that I was on this plan and guess what? He was very supportive. He told me that we didn’t need to go out a bunch and we planned our days so that I could still accomplish the things I needed to in order to continue to succeed.
I’d like to briefly share a recap of our time together so that you can see that it doesn’t have to be that difficult to stick to your health routine just because you have visitors.
First: Tell your guest ahead of time what your life is like and what you need to do every day. Once you have done that, ask them to join you. I told my dad about my workouts and let him know what time they were and then I invited him to come along and experience them for himself. He was willing to come along and give them a try. We not only got to workout together, but I also didn’t feel like I was losing out on time with him.
Second: Eat at home. Every time I go to a restaurant I think that I would have rather eaten at home. I enjoy cooking so I asked my dad if he had any preferences and then cooked at home. He never once said that it was terrible and he would have rather gone out. The whole time he was here, we only ate out once. One night we went to the market and picked out some fresh seafood and brought it home to make it ourselves. We ate a meal that would have cost hundreds of dollars at a restaurant for a very reasonable price. To top it off we enjoyed the dinner and each others company in a place where we could all be comfortable and unhurried.
Third: Be active. We did something active everyday. One day we went to the zoo with the boys. Another day, we drove over to the Pacific Ocean and walked some trails. We did both with my little boys so we got a walking workout as well as carrying the boys. It was a workout without feeling like one. I know my dad enjoyed being out and active way more than he would have enjoyed sitting around the house watching television.
When it comes to having guests visit, the most important thing is to let them know that you have things you need to do even thought they are visiting. By being upfront you let them know that you are serious and that they need to be willing to adapt. There is nothing wrong with carrying on in your life when you have guests.
I found it to be an amazing time and when my dad left I didn’t feel like I had undone all my training and that I needed to restart my nutrition plan. That is a good feeling. It is a feeling that makes it easy to truly be excited when people come to visit my family and I.
Next time you have guests, stick to your plan and let them see what your life is really like. I’m sure you will be surprised at how much they appreciate getting to see you in YOUR environment. Not only will they appreciate it, but you will as well.
