Shit!!! Is it really Christmas already? The smell of gingerbread looms in the air, I see candy canes everywhere. The cookies and cakes and pies, oh my…if I eat any of this shit I will definitely Die. Oh but who could resist my moms famous dressing? Me, cause I don’t want to pressing, an extra pound or two, three or four, If I eat that stuff I’ll never be able to get through the door. I know, I know who says no to Mac n Cheese, the person who doesn’t want to die of Diabetes!
Ok, so I’m no poet. Lol.
My family comes together on the 24th of December, there’s always a lot of food that smells and tastes amazing, there’s lots of laughter and usually a lot of people. This holiday wasn’t the polar opposite of my former Christmases but it definitely had a lot of high points I’d never seen before, namely with my family. This year was different for a number of reasons, starting with it was literally my first Christmas as a single man who lives alone, second because I had to give up my home this year, this was my first time hosting Christmas in a smaller place since I lived with my mother years ago. Also, my oldest biological brother, his children, my nieces and nephews and wife were celebrating with the family. I was beyond excited and I could tell, you couldn’t wipe the smile off my face if you had a bucket of “Eazy Off “ oven spray, man it was high times.
Other things that were new included me cooking the greens and the Ham this year and lastly, there was no team of people to set up or take down the Holiday décor. Yes, I’m “that guy”, “Mr. Holiday” I love entertaining and I love to cook and will design an incredible room but don’t want anything to do with breakdown in particular. By the time the party comes down, hell I’m ready to come down too! Its an inescapable cycle because someone has got to do it and this year it was all me, I was solo. lol
What I really learned over this holiday season is that I’m also one hell of a sprinter! Lol. I mean my ass was a runnin! I ran from the turkey, I ran from the ham, I ran form my mommas “Famous Dressing. Yes, “famous. Dressing isn’t good unless it’s Famous! Nevertheless, I can’t say that I didn’t have any holiday food but I did make choices that support my decision to live a healthier lifestyle, choices that I’m proud of.
Who in the hell you know of that cooks an entire pot of greens (for the first time) nailsit, but never tastes the food himself? Me, that’s who! I do that. Lol. It was crazy y’all. I got up at 7am in the morning to start, and I mean I was Not playing, I was ready to do war on them thurr collards and mustards and the war was won. But I digress, lol. Anyway, I did what I said I would do.
Remember when we decided that we’d set a weekly goal? Well, not tasting anything was a part of my goal. Sounds silly, but it was risky, and not so easy. Nonetheless, my Mac n Cheese, Greens and Cornbread were heavyweight hits on Christmas Eve and I smiled so hard I almost broke my face. I didn’t taste anything, until Christmas day. The other half of this week’s goal was to not over eat, or take on unnecessary calories. So for breakfast that day I had watermelon, almonds and water. For lunch I had the other half of my watermelon, an avocado, water and a smoothie. For dinner I definitely hit the homemade salsa, had an apple an orange and a green salad. By 10pm my house was empty, clean and back to its proper order.
I had literally escaped the whole holiday spread and it was a great escape. I’m no hero, but I do like that I set a plan and kept with it. Don’t get me wrong; I took the day off from the gym, two days actually, but got right back to it by doing a few laps around Roosevelt Park and hitting the stairs with a friend.
The moral of the story is put your running shoes on, because you can’t ask people to not celebrate their lives or change food traditions in whole without interrupting the flow of “family” life. You havbodye to be the change you want to see by committing in the hard times and sticking to your guns.
The great escape was me dodging a couple of food obstacles, but even more it was overcoming the mental hurdles I faced. Seemingly it’s an easy run, but that’s a lie. Yes it does get easier, but as you walk be free and acknowledge the hard parts, it’ll actually make the climb much easier, revealing views and vistas you would have never seen if you had never decided to make the decision you did in shifting your lifestyle.
You can see my see my stair climb here:
Continue on!
