By Susan Govern
Many of you may be just like me. You take a long look at yourself during the middle of winter and you think “I need to think about eating better and losing some weight”. My motivation isn’t vanity; it’s my health. My mom was a diabetic and my dad (who was never overweight in his life) died from a heart attack. So I truly say to myself I need to plan on eating right and eating less and exercising more. Then I promise myself to be good about this plan. Along comes spring and summer which in our large extended family shoots down my good intentions like a skillful marksman taking out clay pigeons.
With my husband being one of six children, adding in spouses, nephews, nieces, their spouses, my own two children, my mother-in-law and now great nephews and nieces – there is always some kind of celebration to attend. Of course these parties usually start in springtime and go all the way through to Christmas. So we not only have spring and summer covered for eating a wide variety of food, but we throw in autumn and winter for good measure.
Now don’t get me wrong – I LOVE my husband’s family and I LOVE all our get-togethers. It’s my scale that objects. We are blessed with great cooks and a love for a wide variety of foods. Being Polish and Slovak with a hint of German thrown in we love “comfort” foods like perogis or cabbage rolls. You can see what I’m up against.
But our family doesn’t discriminate. Taco Salad, Potato Salad, Macaroni Salad, taco bar with all the fixings (including lots of sour cream), fried chicken, buffalo chicken dip, spinach dip, artichoke dip, baked rigatoni with sausage, garlic bread, chili (with lots of cheese on top) – if you’re getting hungry right about now, I’m right there with you.
And the main dishes are only part of what I’m up against. We also have excellent bakers in the family. I might as well face facts – it’s a losing battle to think of eating only lean and green.
There is a ray of hope though. One sister-in-law raises free-range chickens and we get eggs from her that are “chemical and drug free”. When we have parties – the salads are starting to contain more dark greens and lighter dressings because we are all more aware of the need to get (and stay) healthy.
If it’s available at a gathering I go for the fresh guacamole and use less sour cream. I’m proud to say that I have learned to love hummus more than French onion dip and try to go for pita chips or crackers instead of potato chips. One small step for me – one giant leap for my health.
Ah yes, and then there is the two word phrase that should really help me in my never-ending quest for health through better eating – “Portion Control”. A while back those two words would nearly make me choke (usually while I was shoveling, I mean eating, my second helping).
Now I have learned to embrace those words. Ok…truthfully…I at least tolerate them. When I find myself standing at the beginning of the buffet line at a family gathering I dig deep inside and promise myself only a teaspoon taste of the foods I really crave. By the time I have moved up a little in the line, I convince myself a tablespoon full of my mother-in-law’s home-made mac salad will be ok. Moving right along, I look at the rigatoni and sausage and think “A serving spoon full of this isn’t really all that much.” So I push over the baked beans and the potato casserole (made so delicious with sour cream) and plop the rigatoni onto my plate. And of course, how can you enjoy rigatoni without garlic bread? Oh…and then there before me is the fried chicken; so nice and greasy, I mean, crispy. Just a drumstick will do – until my mind overrides that idea and I come away with a much bigger piece.
By the time I sit down I have already walked by the dessert table and mentally made a note of what I am going back for later (anything chocolate and it has my name on it).
Some time later on the way home from our time spent having so much fun with family, I tell my husband that I did watch what I ate. With a wink and a nod, he says “Yep, you watched it go from your plate to your mouth, just like I did.”
He knows me so well.
