| Lynn_Matava | member since October 2009 |
 Eastern Shore, Maryland | October 26, 2009, 9:48 pm SERVING up a SMILE: 10/27/09, Along for the Ride If you joined this site with a loved one, best friend, or significant other AND the two of you can actually share (and play nice) when using the same computer to log your meals, you are very, very fortunate, indeed. If you are not the other half of one of these snuggly, computer sharing couples, you may find yourself frustrated and discouraged each time you sit down to a meal with a group of dissatisfied-with-their-options dining companions. Perhaps even more frustrating is finding yourself dining among unsympathetic loved ones who continue to eat in a way that is not conducive to the new you. Before you get them on the train, you have to get them to the station. Here’s the catch: you can’t get them there by using any words, brute force, threatening bodily harm and/ or dragging them, kicking and screaming. Making judgmental comments doesn’t get them any closer to boarding the health train either; I can attest to this as this provoking behavior is something I struggle with. My husband really enjoys television. Me? I could take it or leave it. Joe’s programming interests could be divided into two categories: all things considered sport and all things not considered sport. For years, I honestly believed that ESPN was directly broadcast only to him. It drove me crazy that the first thing he did each morning was to turn on Sports Center on his way to get his coffee. He doesn’t even pause to watch a moment of it but, nonetheless, it must be on prior to the trip to the coffee pot. Incidentally, he does the same thing at night when he gets home from work. He knows he is going upstairs to change but, with the same courtesy given to all things cute and/ or furry, he has to let his darling ESPN know that daddy’s home. Joe has never asked me to show any interest in ESPN. He loves it and he has to have it. My opinion does nothing to thwart or cultivate his love affair; it is what it is—with or without me. Regardless of whether you have a traveling companion, you have to be willing to improve your health for you and you should be prepared to do it alone. No one else can make self improvements for you. That said, I have labeled and described a handful of tactics that may facilitate the enlistment of some more willing travel mates: 1 – Covert Rescue Mission: You’re a scheduling maniac, I know. You can tie soccer cleats, chop veggies, stir the soup and review homework all at the same time. But they don’t need to know this. Feign an illness. Make believe you are two or four hands shy of getting dinner on the table. Enlist help to save dinner. Busy hands might be more apt to try something they feel invested in. I know, I know, this will actually set serving time back by at least fifteen minutes. Ahhh, but the long term yields are far more gainful. 2 – Bait and Switch: Believe me when I say this works. Really, marketing companies do this to us all of the time. We even buy into it willingly. If your significant other or children are accustomed to eating tater tots and mac and cheese for sides, it is not a great idea to kidnap the tots and try to nonchalantly replace them with wheat berries (not unless you are really quick at ducking). If you are anything like me, you probably just pour those tots out until the baking pan is full. How about checking the bag and then cooking only one or two serving sizes for a family of four? Then you can have some Lemon-y Kamut with Pine Nuts, sitting atop the table as well. There may just be a sudden change of heart in the battle over trying new things when they are in the midst of eating and want to continue doing so. 3 – The Get Your Own Approach: I can’t explain the exact psychology of this except to say that we always seem to want what we can’t have. It never fails that a meal I might serve for dinner to a boo-ing three year old, suddenly looks irresistible (to same aforementioned three year old) while I sit upon the couch trying to eat my own carefully weighed and measured lunch. If you don’t appear interested in sharing the treasure, it must be good! This is especially true if you empty out one cabinet and one shelf in the refrigerator, fill them with your own food and label areas as exclusively mine. With the same effectiveness as a For Women Only posting, outsiders will want to know what you’ve got that you don’t want to share. 4 – The Ripple in the Pond Effect, also known as the Living Well is the Best Revenge Effect: Quite simply eat and live as healthfully as you possibly can. Your body will look great. Your mind will feel great. Others will want to make changes just because it looks like the smart thing to do. Way to be a trendsetter! And if they don’t follow suit, who the hell cares, you look fabulous!. 5 – The Sneak Attack of the healthy lifestyle: In my house, it all began with a vegetarian chicken patty. My husband saw them in the freezer and grabbed a couple for work. Later when he realized that he had not eaten meat (he honestly didn’t know) AND that he was alive to tell the tale, he agreed to try other healthful selections. My daughters and husband each eat chia almost daily. They know that they do, because I have expressed this to them. It is how they are eating it that always surprises them. The seeds (and the ground bran) stir nicely into the “jelly” part of a PB&J. Chia bran is almost undetectable mixed in olive oil and balsamic vinegar and spread onto bread (use in place of mayo). Avocado was slipped onto a black bean burger as a “mayo replacement” in the same manner. My husband has finally joined the rest of our avocado-addicted family as a result. This final tactic works best once you’ve sparked a little interest in trying new things. If none of those work, the rules of comfort clearly state that over time we are bound to become comfortable with what we know. In fourteen years of co-habitation, I have come to not mind Sport Center. Oh, alright, I actually like it. Their advertising borders on comedic genius. Really, it’s funny. My day begins with ESPN. I was somewhat bothered when Cold Pizza went off of the air, if for nothing else, because I loved the title. Now when I don’t begin the day with Mike Greenberg or Mike Golic (say if one of them is on vacation), I somehow feel that my morning isn’t quite complete. I don’t actually watch them, but they are in the room and their voices begin the soundtrack to my every day. In a metaphoric sort of sense, like Mike & Mike, my husband and I have a similar Odd Couple quality about us. If it is true that over time, an owner can grow to look like his dog, than surely habits rub off and even the most opposite of people learn mannerisms from each other as the years go by. Part of this (and any) journey must also involve some breathing room and forgiveness. Just like I cannot expect myself to be perfect all of the time, I cannot expect that those around me will be either. Joe has turned into a much more health conscious person than I ever imagined he would. Still, as he expressed the other day, “If I have to live my entire life without ever having the occasional processed cheese food, than I don’t want to live forever.” Message heard, loud and clear. And after he eats that crap, we’ll all need some breathing room! Be willing to go it alone, and you just might find some pretty great travel companions that have decided to come along for the ride. It is with some country hospitality and a ladle in hand that I say thanks for stopping by. I hope you’ll come back next week and pull your chair up to my table. I’m not sure what we’ll be serving up but I promise to do it with a smile. ~ Love the foods that love you back ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Don’t forget to visit the Country Tart to read more edible thoughts!  Some of my favorite travel companions, on a camping trip to West Virginia in 2007  Cooper’s Rock State Forest, '07
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