Best Tips for a Healthy Valentine’s Day I am a huge fan of Valentine’s Day. I’m not much of a dress up, wear heels, put on a gallon of make up, sort of girl, but February 14th, I’m so down. Hotel rooms, flowers, champagne, cake, let’s do it. I love, love, even if it’s on a made up greeting card holiday lol. Since I’ve had a healthier lifestyle the past 6 ish years, I’ve made a few healthy changes in how I celebrate. Here are my top 5: 1) Set Gift Expectations: One of the most common things I say to the women I work with is that we teach people how to treat us. That is done through what we allow, what we tolerate, what we ask for, etc. If you don’t tell your partner that you are not interested in large boxes of candy, surprise cakes, food delivery and the like, it’s not their fault if they pick those go to gifts. Now, don’t just tell them what NOT to do, come up with some other ideas to take their place. It’s important to set expectations in advance. 2) Include Physical Activities: Valentine’s Day doesn’t have to be all food, drinks and flowers. If you are going away for the weekend, consider getting in a morning hike each day. If you are doing dinner and a movie, go near a park, where you can walk around first, or between. Going dancing is a great way to stay up and about. On Active.com there are a ton of Valentine’s weekend activities. It doesn’t matter which activity it is, just take it into consideration. 3) Look at the Menu Ahead of Time: If dinner is on the agenda, it’s so easy to take a few minutes prior to the date, and check out the menu. Take a look at the options, make sure they are in line with your goals. If they don’t have the most healthy choices, can you make easy substitutions? If it isn’t going to work out, choose another place. I love just putting “healthy date night” into yelp and picking from those choices. 4) Drinks After Food: It has been proven that if you drink before you eat, you will eat more, and make less healthy choices. Normally you might go for a drink first, or order wine before dinner comes, that sort of thing. It’s just sort of what we do. Consider skipping that, getting an an appetizer first, and then ordering your drink. I’m not saying don’t drink, I’m just saying the order matters, so take it into consideration. 5) Plan for Indulgences: Don’t assume that you will stay on a 100% healthy plan. If you go into the date assuming you are going to have salad and water, and then make a choice to eat chocolate cake, you’re going to feel guilty, and that sucks. If you eat healthy for the rest of the week, and workout early that day, you can include that stray from your plan, and be totally okay with it. I am all for having a real life, just plan for it. I hope this was helpful and that you have all sorts of LOVE this Valentine’s Day! Make sure you add yourself to my monthly newsletter for tips, recipes, personal updates and special offers! First Name Email Address *
