I want to thank everyone for their feedback and support on my first official blog post. I really don’t have an exact vision for this blog, but I have never been an exact vision kind of a gal. So here I randomly start another journey in my life. I look forward to sharing!
Easter Sunday has come and gone. There was not a jellybean I didn’t touch or a bowl of M&M’s that I did not paw at. I didn’t taste my first helping of dinner because I was worried that the girls were going to fling their plates across the room. So when my father-in-law kindly took the ladies away to play, plates safely on the table, I helped myself to round two. And dessert.
What do you do the week after a holiday when you have just stuffed yourself silly? Continue to eat, drink and be merry! Let’s start with the eating. Eating the day or week after a holiday can be a challenge. You want to start over. Clean slate. Whatever you do, don’t start a diet or a cleanse the first few days after a holiday. But do start a new approach to food. Food can’t be an after-thought. You have to plan for it. Grow it, buy it, prepare it . . . FOOD. I’m still investigating food and learning what to do with it. Discovering food is a journey that many of us have put on the back burner because when we think about food, we immediately get cravings. Someone once told me that they don’t eat breakfast because it makes them hungry the rest of the day. We are supposed to eat the rest of the day. After breakfast, you still have two more amazing meals ahead of you. And if you are so inclined, a healthy snack! So please eat today.
As far as recommendations for what to eat this week, I advise to eat as many vegetables and fruits as possible, raw when you are in the mood to help balance out all the delicious cooked food we ate for the holidays. Don’t go making huge diet overhauls now that spring is here. Go slow, be easy on yourself and be mindful. When you start adding in the good quality whole foods, your body will begin to rebalance and have fewer cravings for the non-food foods (if you don’t know what these are you really need to hire meJ). Remember, no dieting! Implement healthy tendencies to enhance life! Eat your fruits and vegetables. Experiment with new ones, fall back on the trusty carrot stick, cook them, eat them raw . . . Eat more fruits and vegetables!
Just in case you don’t want to take my advice, here is a paragraph form the book Eat, Drink, and Weigh Less by Mollie Katzen and Walter Willett, M.D.
Most diets will work in the short term, because they cause you to be more conscious about food choices you make and limits you set. But most are not designed for the long haul. They tend to be too monotonous, deprivation-driven, or extreme to stick with. And to the degree that many popular diets are all of the above, their effects tend to be easily reversed, leading many dieters into an agonizing loop of gaining, losing, and gaining again – which is as bad for health as it is for morale.
What do you drink the week after a holiday feast? Drink tons of water. Add lemon to it. Add lime to it. Add mint leaves. Add ice. Drink tons of water. If you are feeling adventurous, boil water in a teakettle, shred some ginger in a cup (shred to your tastes liking) and make homemade ginger tea. Ginger tea is great to help clean things out. Drinking boiled water can also help with bloating. Drink more water!
Eat, drink, and be merry! And for the merry, I wish I could say it was as easy as going to the cupboard and finishing the open bottle of wine from the festivities, but that is not my recommendation for continuing the merriness into our week. My recommendation to continue the celebration is to workout! Download some good tunes and move your body. Dance, run, walk, yoga . . . move your body! My theory on downloading good music is this: you can do anything to a great song. So if you have a few great songs in a row, push your walk into a jog. Push your jog into a fast run. And when you are finished make sure you stretch and give yourself a few moments to feel a sense of accomplishment.
If you need a bit more inspiration on the being merry recommendation, here is a prayer written by Marjorie Holmes that makes my mornings a little brighter!
“Just for Today”
OH, GOD GIVE ME GRACE FOR THIS DAY. NOT FOR A LIFETIME, NOR FOR NEXT WEEK, NOR FOR TOMORROW, JUST FOR THIS DAY. DIRECT MY THOUGHTS AND BLESS THEM, DIRECT MY WORK AND BLESS IT. DIRECT THE THINGS I SAY AND GIVE THEM BLESSING TOO. DIRECT AND BLESS EVERYTHING THAT I THINK SPEAK AND DO. SO THAT FOR THIS ONE DAY, JUST THIS ONE DAY, I HAVE THE GIFT OF GRACE THAT COMES FROM YOUR PRESENCE.
It’s hard to be merry everyday. But when we take a minute and reflect on living for the moment and realize the blessings around us, we will then see the grace around us and allow it to lift our hearts and our spirit.
Food. Think about it. Learn about it. Discover how it makes you feel. Enjoy the journey!
Love deeply and eat mindfully,
Kim Gilroy
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