Balancing Treats and Activity
The question that I am asked all the time by my friends who know I am a food blogger is: “How do you stay so thin with all the food you cook?” It is a complete mystery to them.
We eat what I cook. Food isn’t thrown away. The mouths in my home, including mine, enjoy the recipes that I cook, and as a Together CountsTM ambassador, it is really important to me that we enjoy those recipes in a way that still promotes a healthy and active lifestyle.
Eat Sweets in Moderation
I might bake some cookies or cupcakes, but I don’t eat three in one day. I don’t even eat one every day. Sweets are completely fine when eaten in moderation, both in terms of the portion size (and control!) and in relation to the proportion of more nutritious foods eaten.
Put Some Thought into Planning
I prefer not to blog about desserts or other sweets, even breakfast treats, back to back. In part because I don’t want readers who aim to stick to a healthy diet to feel like I’m tripping them up in that department. But also because I don’t want to eat desserts that often. I mix dessert recipes in between dinner, breakfast, lunch, salad, or other recipes that are more “whole foods.”
Make a Smaller Batch
Just because a muffin recipe makes 3-dozen doesn’t mean I have to bake that many – or feed my family that many within 2 days. I’ll cut recipes down into smaller portions if I feel like it will be too much for our family. Or, more recently, I’ve taken to stashing extras away in the freezer for use throughout the month.
Be Active
Being active is harder during the winter months, so I am really glad things are warming up here, but there is always something physical that can be done to help cancel out the consumption of foods that don’t provide anything but enjoyment.
During the winter we have gone sledding as a fun family activity. It might not sound like exercise, but you try hiking back up to the top of the hill in several inches of snow for 2 hours on end. It is exercise whether it was intended or not. Ice-skating was another popular winter outing that kept us physically active.
During warmer months, going for a swim at the neighborhood pool or even just taking a walk around the block after dinner helps keep our life healthy and active.
I’ve learned over the years that I don’t have to put hours in at the gym to be active, there are many family activities – whether something special like skating, or simple like going for a walk or hike – that provide exercise. Those types of exercise are my favorite because they are a lot more fun and allow me to create memories with my family in a way that I never will by going to the local gym.
For more post ideas on balancing food with activity, check out these Together Counts resources:
Katie’s lifelong interest in food has shown her that part of the goodness in life is enjoying delicious food with friends and family. Katie Goodman is the cook, recipe developer, and photographer behind GoodLife Eats where she dishes on food, books, travel and style. You can also find Katie on Twitter and Facebook.