If you work out strenuously, or work long hours, you might have questions about how Optavia can and will fit into your life. Here are some guidelines. Find them on my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/myjourneytoahealthyme/posts/pfbid0uiqbhkgUdG7F2qnSs4MSgxWfWN7gguaBS2qcaL5vLrRvLujB8mG2NUAH6qh8dnSl
I love cooking and baking. I especially love the tradition I have with my children to bake holiday cookies - peanut butter blossoms, cut-out sugar cookies with frosting, snickerdoodles, oatmeal chocolate chip, and sometimes even more. We bake everything dairy-free, and often gluten-free also, and it is something we all enjoy.
I'm not going to lie, it was REALLY difficult this year to not taste-test the batter (especially the oatmeal chocolate chip batter) or the cookies (the peanut butter blossoms are my favorite!) but I asked myself one simple question and it helped me refocus: "What do I want more - that cookie, that I already know how it tastes (and honestly, it's probably not as good as I'm imagining it to be), OR to keep feeling amazing and not destroy my stomach by eating foods it isn't used to?" The answer was simple at that point. Maybe some day it won't be simple, but this year, it was easy to choose ME over the cookies. It was easy to put myself first, and break that habit, and remind myself it was things like those cookies that got me to where I was in the first place. There is a time and place for choosing to indulge in a sweet treat, but I am not at that time nor that place right now, and I made a very conscious and intentional choice to NOT taste-test the sweets this year.
But what about dinner?
I know there are tons of ways to create Optavia-compliant holiday meals and side dishes. Several are listed here. Much like Thanksgiving, I just don't have the same sentimental attachment to holiday foods that a lot of people seem to have. I don't need the meat and cheesy side dishes. As a kid, I would only eat mashed potatoes (no gravy) and pumpkin pie and cookies.
I know a lot of people make the conscious choice to go off-plan for the holidays, to splurge a little bit, or take small tastes of foods that they would normally not eat while following Optavia. All of that is fine, especially when it is an intentional decision.
So what did I eat?
I had my five Fuelings - I added a dash of nutmeg to a creamy vanilla shake and it was delicious! - and I ate seafood and spaghetti squash, with salad, for my Lean and Green. It was yummy, it was filling, and it kept me in Fat-Burn!
