Lazy Hazy Crazy Days of Summer

First, a little mood music.....(click below for the youtube song)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kL6f35nsSow




Ok, the stage has been set. :-)  I'm not  a Phillies fan, but I am most certainly a baseball fan. Goooooo Red Sox.  Gooooooo Orioles!  w00t!

Spring and Summer are rolling in!  That means trips to Camden Yards and day trips, amusement parks and swimming pools, vacations and boating, and cookouts! Oh the cookouts!  It also means a lot of temptation!

In years past, I would either eat anything I wanted and not even consider guilt because I was so over-the-top out of control, or not have anything I really wanted, and then resent it.  There was also a middle ground for me...eat what I wanted AND beat myself up over it.

None of those approaches worked for me.  So how about I try something new this year? How about....I just kind of keep track of what I'm doing and where I stand on a daily/weekly basis, and if I go to a ball game and I want a ballpark frank and fries, I go ahead and have them, and plan the rest of the day with lots more veggies and healthy foods?

What if I go to the family cookout and enjoy my favorite burger with cheese and on a toasted all-white hamburger bun, but maybe pass on the potato salad and opt for some veggies instead...and feel happy and satisfied with the compromise?

Is that what normal people do? I have no idea, but what I do know is I'm not going into "deprivation" mode ever again.  That kind of dieting doesn't work for me.  This is a lifestyle change and that means in the summer I'm going to want a burger or maybe a soft serve ice cream cone once in a great while.  That has to be okay.  I have to make sure it is planned for, accounted for, and that it's neither a "reward" nor a reason for "punishment."

I already started to live this way to some degree.  If I wanted french fries today, I'd have them and account for them.  Funny thing is, I am really reluctant to put anything in my body that doesn't have nutritional value that the body can use for good fuel.  Even when I have the extra weight watchers points, I'd rather have some almond butter on whole grain bread than ice cream.  And I don't feel sad or deprived.  In fact, I don't think much of it at all.  Weird.

Anyway...I bought some Bubba Burgers (my favorite "at home" burger) and I'm going to have a cookout soon to celebrate spring.  And I'm going to have a bubba burger and will probably make some potato salad.  And I'll have ONE burger and I'll measure the potato salad and I'll be pretty freaking happy that I am learning how to manage my food rather than being controlled by it.

Now if I could just get a volunteer to come run the grill........