Blog 9.5- Home Sweet Buttery Home

It is difficult to write about cooking when you have been kicked out your own kitchen. My mother is here. My father is too (but he does not cook-and if he did, he would be thrown out of the kitchen as quickly as Hitler would be kicked out of a Woody Allen movie).
I am forced into exile of the culinary kind, akin to that of Moses- but instead of the land of milk and honey, it’s the land of butter and cow intestine. If it is not cased within the stomach of another animal, it is not edible in my mother’s eyes. It not kosher. Sacrifice is not in my family’s vocabulary.
I know that my business alias is Will Power. I believe I have it in me to limit my consumption of these delectable goodies. We have pierogis, which are meat dumplings. We have sauerkraut, which is flavored by the drippings of meat. We have roasts, ribs, shoulders, blades, butts and every undesirable fatty part of an animal. What people pay me to alter, I see sitting in my refrigerator. It is not unlike a plastic surgeons office. And I salivate at the sight of a slow-cooked meat glistening in the juices of its rendering.
But this visit has shown me something as a trainer. I know what every client goes through. I understand when you say I can’t possibly lose weight this weekend or be good on my diet because I am going home. I understand what you are saying. But its simply not true. You can still be good and here is how.
First of all, limit yourself. Take a plate of the food and say that is it. Enjoy it, savor it, and say that is all. That’s the Will Power approach. (Get your superhero cape ready!)
Here is another way…avoid the starch. If you eat the meat, fill up on veggies and avoid the starch. You may not loose any weight but you certainly won’t gain as much. This sounds a lot like Atkin’s. Yeah I know. I am not embracing it as a lifestyle choice, but it does the pinch in a stressful home-invasion scenario.
Also, continue to exercise. So if you are visiting your parents or whomever, bring you running shoes. Walk it off! Run it off, Bring an exercise band! Do something when you wake up. If you burn the calories, then eat, you wont gain weight. You won’t lose, but not gaining is victory I and of itself.
But here is the best way. Intervene!
We all know that food is an expression of love. My mother cooks for me because that is her way to show she loves me. She does it in excess because its her way of saying, you are my son and I will always take care of you. I get it. So tell them you get it! Tell them that you do not need to tell me you love me based on food. Food is nutrition, not love. Tell them that showing you love me at this time in my life would be for me to make my own choices. I am telling you this…if you can do this , you will make the biggest breakthrough.
So I am off to enjoy so encased meat. I mean, who does not love the idea of a meat juices grease sliding down your face along with the inaugural games of football. I am in heaven, but I have it under control. You can too. So don’t give up.