No, I’m not talking about “the walk of shame.” (Though the many, many sisters discussed this very things last night! Ha!) I’m not even talking about a hangover (I drank lots of water last night and went to bed with a light snack of Aleve in order to wake up ready to go). I’m talking about the day after a day of unplanned eating – parties being especially hard since it’s when everyone wants to make their most delicious treats such as famous brownies, family recipes of drinks, and snacks that are hard for even the most disciplined to walk away from.
We had a great party yesterday. It’s nice to both be a real grown up and be able to kick back at the same time. There were no kegs or shouting (well maybe a little shouting), nobody got sick and as far as I know nobody did anything they feel remorse for now. I mean, I did get handed a pool cue and told to play, and I did then watch as the only one of my balls to get sunk went into the pocket by the power of my opponent but . . . I can live with that. I’ve found in life that it’s good to know your own strengths and weaknesses. Cooking, yes. Telling the occasional funny story, yes. Photography, ok. I can do most of what I want to do with a camera. Singing, working on it. Playing pool, not so much. (It’s a little ironic, actually. I perfectly understand the geography and physics having “minored” in math but I can’t ever seem to execute the geometry I am seeing for my potential shots.)
We had a great party yesterday. It’s nice to both be a real grown up and be able to kick back at the same time. There were no kegs or shouting (well maybe a little shouting), nobody got sick and as far as I know nobody did anything they feel remorse for now. I mean, I did get handed a pool cue and told to play, and I did then watch as the only one of my balls to get sunk went into the pocket by the power of my opponent but . . . I can live with that. I’ve found in life that it’s good to know your own strengths and weaknesses. Cooking, yes. Telling the occasional funny story, yes. Photography, ok. I can do most of what I want to do with a camera. Singing, working on it. Playing pool, not so much. (It’s a little ironic, actually. I perfectly understand the geography and physics having “minored” in math but I can’t ever seem to execute the geometry I am seeing for my potential shots.)
When we got to this lovely rental house and began discussing this party, I had some suggestions of things to make. I had even brought some recipes and spices. The response I got was that whatever I wanted to cook was fine by everyone. So, I made an insanely organized list, grocery shopped, and then cooked for several hours. Now, I don’t mean to brag, but I can make a decent menu from scratch and feed a group pretty darn well. I am not a gourmet cook, but I am a solid cook who can follow a recipe like a champ as well as improvising with most ingredients. I wouldn’t even make it through an hour of cooking in Kitchen Stadium, or anything, but I can usually pull off feeding a large group with interesting and delicious dishes.
It brings me a lot of pleasure to cook for people. It also gives me an opportunity to insert some dishes that are satisfying and palatable, but not nutritionally empty or dangerous. Let me say that there were no Cheezits, real or metaphorical on the table. (We had chips on the table, but I had seen to it that the ones we purchased did not have a voice that loudly called to me.) There were a lot of healthy salad side dishes, three different proteins, some cooked vegetables, and our desserts were either made from scratch or involved fruit, or both. (Note: I’m not saying that made the desserts guilt free, but at least they were without preservatives, corn syrup and other unknown ingredients). I managed to make three side dishes and some kabobs that would allow me to have a meal that was gluten free, filled with fresh and raw produce, and had a great protein without having to worry what the rest of the group or the guests thought about gluten, high protein, raw vegetables, or low carb eating. This is my secret challenge to myself whenever I am cooking for a group – can I cook around my and everyone else’s food restrictions and just make food that is delicious and interesting without having to apologize by saying. “I’m sorry it’s gluten free,” or, “I know that isn’t quite right but so and so is allergic to onions and nuts.” (I didn’t make that up. I once threw a party and had a guest who was allergic to nuts, wheat, dairy, onions, and garlic.)
As someone who has both medical and psychological issues with food, I know how hard it can be to be that person in the group that has to turn so many things down that they finally have to explain, “I can’t eat that.” Food is ubiquitous in our lives. Most of us have not attended many parties, gatherings, meetings, or conferences where food wasn’t a centerpiece of how people were made comfortable. It’s difficult to be social without it, and for me, it’s difficult to be social with it. I want to be able to eat without worrying that the next day I will feel physically bad from something that doesn’t agree with me (too much gluten or preservatives being the big culprit). I also don’t want to be feeling emotionally bad from what I ate. I would rather listen to my friends stories and conversations, not the loud clanging in my head of food yelling at me, “Heyyyyyy, heeey-aaay! I’m over here! Don’t you want cheese? Don’t you want chips? What about this tray of brownies? Yooo-hoo, over here.”
If I look very carefully over my food choices yesterday, I feel I can honestly say that the dominant elements were, in descending order: vegetables, protein, and beer. Yes, there were a few tastes of dessert, and therefore some white flour and white sugar in my life, but my blood sugar, deep sleep, and ability to get out of bed and feel alright 8 hours later are a testament to the fact that I didn’t overdo anything. I wasn’t anywhere near “on plan” but the ideas of plan (to eat smaller amounts more frequently, and to compose my eating mostly of proteins and vegetables) lingered. Of course, there was one thing missing from my eating yesterday – my food log. I’ve decided to set it aside this weekend and see what some mindfulness and trying to really hear the signals of my body can do for me. But since I won’t be walking miles every day when I return home, I should probably bring that back.
For me, it’s very interesting to be a member of the first species in history to have to deal with the negative effects of having too much food. I’ve been sitting on this porch a lot watching birds, and squirrels and listening to seals a few feet down the hill and thinking that they probably only notice food when there’s not enough of it. The problems of too much are unique to humans. It’s fascinating to watch how much profit comes of this. Not just the food companies who sell amazing amounts of products that are amazingly un -needed and bad for us, but then the corollary companies selling 100 calorie packs, Weight Watchers food, diet plan memberships and the list goes on and on. While there is clear evidence that we are evolutionarily programmed to eat what is in front of us and as much of it as we can, and to enjoy carbohydrates and fats more, I can only blame so much on ancient humans. My evolutionary programming may be responsible for my brain confusing cravings for need, but I am responsible for how I respond to that.
Some of the best accountability I have found is to log my food. That joined with some techniques to breathe through and question cravings, to pause before eating more, and holding close the ideas that most of the time, on most days, I really should exercise, and eat mostly proteins and vegetables is likely to help me forge my own solution. In the meantime, being part of hosting the party and bringing the food to the table, knowing what was in it and preparing it makes it a lot less likely that I will eat like a zombie (I could write multiple posts on my intense love for and interest in zombies), not knowing or caring what is being steered in my mouth, and more likely that I’ll be invested in the food being not only good, but an offering of good options. So, I cooked for three hours, and while some might not think that is a good use of vacation time, it was some of the best medication for me, and for FRED who wasn’t invited to the party and who didn’t crash the gates this time.
If I look very carefully over my food choices yesterday, I feel I can honestly say that the dominant elements were, in descending order: vegetables, protein, and beer. Yes, there were a few tastes of dessert, and therefore some white flour and white sugar in my life, but my blood sugar, deep sleep, and ability to get out of bed and feel alright 8 hours later are a testament to the fact that I didn’t overdo anything. I wasn’t anywhere near “on plan” but the ideas of plan (to eat smaller amounts more frequently, and to compose my eating mostly of proteins and vegetables) lingered. Of course, there was one thing missing from my eating yesterday – my food log. I’ve decided to set it aside this weekend and see what some mindfulness and trying to really hear the signals of my body can do for me. But since I won’t be walking miles every day when I return home, I should probably bring that back.
For me, it’s very interesting to be a member of the first species in history to have to deal with the negative effects of having too much food. I’ve been sitting on this porch a lot watching birds, and squirrels and listening to seals a few feet down the hill and thinking that they probably only notice food when there’s not enough of it. The problems of too much are unique to humans. It’s fascinating to watch how much profit comes of this. Not just the food companies who sell amazing amounts of products that are amazingly un -needed and bad for us, but then the corollary companies selling 100 calorie packs, Weight Watchers food, diet plan memberships and the list goes on and on. While there is clear evidence that we are evolutionarily programmed to eat what is in front of us and as much of it as we can, and to enjoy carbohydrates and fats more, I can only blame so much on ancient humans. My evolutionary programming may be responsible for my brain confusing cravings for need, but I am responsible for how I respond to that.
Some of the best accountability I have found is to log my food. That joined with some techniques to breathe through and question cravings, to pause before eating more, and holding close the ideas that most of the time, on most days, I really should exercise, and eat mostly proteins and vegetables is likely to help me forge my own solution. In the meantime, being part of hosting the party and bringing the food to the table, knowing what was in it and preparing it makes it a lot less likely that I will eat like a zombie (I could write multiple posts on my intense love for and interest in zombies), not knowing or caring what is being steered in my mouth, and more likely that I’ll be invested in the food being not only good, but an offering of good options. So, I cooked for three hours, and while some might not think that is a good use of vacation time, it was some of the best medication for me, and for FRED who wasn’t invited to the party and who didn’t crash the gates this time.
With that, I’m off to add some more whipped cream to my coffee, because I am on vacation and should live a little, after all, and then another day of walking, walking, walking, and sisterly love.
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