Reader’s Digest has a whole section on weight loss in their January issue. (sidebar: don’t you love how magazines work? I’ve already got January’s RD and my February Memory Makers. It’s like my own personal time machine!) Here’s one of the ideas that works really well for me. Especially during the past month when I’ve had looongg days out running errands and attending cantata rehearsals.
Carry an “umbrella” “When the climate is foul, we take responsibility for defending ourselves against it,” says Yale University obesity expert David Katz, MD. “We live in a foul nutritional climate. People go out in it every day hoping not to get fat. It’s silly.” So Katz never leaves home without bringing along whole-grain cereal, carrots, nuts, seeds, fruit and nonfat yogurt.
Whenever I go out, if I know I’m going to be out for a meal or even just a snacktime, I pack food. Even if I just take along my salad dressing so I know I can get a grilled chicken salad, I’m covered. And we keep a pallet of bottles of water in the back of the van. It’s our personal hydration station! Next week we take off on a multi-day cross country drive. Packing the food will probably get more attention than the clothes! See this post for road food suggestions.
This is such wisdom, and I know this mostly because I haven’t done it.
In the last couple of weeks, there have been a few times that I have been out and about, missing a normal mealtime, and found myself ravenous. Most of the time I have not made any bad decisions, but not all the time. When starving at the mall, the pretzels (that I don’t normally care for) and the cookies (which I can make better at home) start calling my name. Let us not mention how wonderful Sbarro starts looking to Nick and his sad puppy-dog eyes as he tells me he’s “hungry, Mom”.
MUST pack food!
Comment by lady laura — December 14, 2006 @ 8:47 am
Brilliant. I mean, I pack the diaper bag and such for the hilt, I could totally do this.
Comment by stephanie — December 14, 2006 @ 3:10 pm
I grew up in a very healthy family. My parents never fried anything and we all exercised all the time. They weren’t health nuts or anything…it was just a lifestyle. (Don’t ask what happened to me now!)
My mom used to always pack on the go. We would snack on baby carrots, apples, and the nuts. She did it for the same reasons…low costs and to eat healthy.
I remember that getting a coke or a candy bar in our family was a huge treat. It didn’t happen that much. Once or twice a month at the most.
I’ll have to start doing this with my family. It’s such a good idea.
Comment by Bethany — December 17, 2006 @ 6:33 pm