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Today both sets of grandparents came to visit, so you can definitely say it’s a special occasion. My parents decided to get takeout barbecue for the event, which was a late lunch at 2 p.m. Usually when my family gets barbecue like this, the meal consists of sliced pork, chicken, ribs, Texas toast, corn on the cob, onion rings, sweet potatoes, coleslaw and baked beans, so I knew this could present a problem.
Luckily for me, I have an awesome mom who is totally on board for this Jump Start Diet that I’m doing with SELF magazine. With her help, I was able to transform what my family was eating into something that actually resembled one of the meals on the diet plan—the chicken baked potato.
I decided to take the chicken from the barbecue and cut it off the bone and skin, salvaging the un-greasy parts and forgoing the barbecue sauce. Then my mom specially made a regular baked potato (I’m not a huge fan of sweet potatoes) and steamed a bag of broccoli for me. Later, I grabbed a healthy snack of roasted red pepper hummus with carrots.
Not only was I able to eat with my family the food they were eating without any strange looks, but I didn’t feel
guilty about it at all.
But since it was a special occasion, I decided to break out the Truvia and make a sweet treat (yes, I brought my Truvia supply home with me on the plane). My grandma was making her infamous chocolate fudge cake, so I decided to make something similar for me (and my diabetic grandpa) as to not feel left out. These brownies were not only really easy, but so chocolaty. I didn’t feel deprived or left out at all. And with only 4 grams of sugar and 130 calories, I definitely didn’t feel like I had cheated on my diet plans. (Watch my video above to see if Grandpa liked it too!)
Also, I’m loving being back at my parents’ house for spring break. Not only is it great to see my family again, but they have two things I don’t have back at college: cable and a gym.
It’s a weight loss paradise! Today I set it up so that all the shows I never get to watch (mainly “Wedding Sunday” shows *cough *) were recorded so I can watch them while pedaling on my mom’s indoor bike later. Hopefully this plan will keep me from getting too lazy over break and actually show some serious results next week.
How are you spending Spring Break? Have any plans to keep you from getting too unhealthy? Let me know by emailing me at NikkiRoberti@HerCampus.com or tweet me anytime @Nikki_Roberti.