Yes! Today is my birthday. I’m over 40 but under 45. It’s strange that I am in mid-life right now. As things are right now, I have a lot of alone time, which is okay. We all need alone time. My husband is working the fires. I’m in the middle (actually two weeks out) of prep. I’m excited to get back on the Tahoe Show stage on August 13. Being in prep means saying no to a lot of invitations to eat out and saying no to birthday cake. That’s okay because I’m sure if I had sugar right now my body would reject it.
Don’t feel sorry for me. I like the alone time to work, write, workout, hang out with my doggies, and binge watch reality tv on Netflix. What’s not to like?
Honestly, I am still making time to hang out with family and friends and stay on track for my competition. The summer is a time to eat lots of fruit, barbeque, and hang out with family. Our family has numerous birthdays over the summer, and it feels like we are constantly celebrating someone. LOVE! In my immediate family, my brother has a birthday in July, mine is August, and then Mom’s is a week later. I also have a ton of cousins and aunts with birthdays over the summer. I even share a birthday with one cousin and another’s birthday is two days later.
Long story short about the birthdays and celebrations over the summer is I want to address how to have your cake and not eat it, too. I have a sweet tooth and that is exceptionally challenging during prep. I am blessed to be working with a new coach this prep, 3x Olympian Jourdanne Lee with FitBody Fusion. She has me eating and tracking food using macros. I have talked about using macros and tracking them on this platform before. Basically, I can eat anything I want as long as it fits in the macros. Outside of prep, I do find a way to fit in the sweets, like ice cream and cake. During prep, those things are off limits.
Instead, I look for ways to satisfy my sweet tooth without sugar or extra fat. I like that I have freedom in my meal choices and my macros. For example, each day, one of the first things I input into My Fitness Pal is my Chobani yogurt. This is the yogurt that has fruit on the bottom and zero grams of fat. It’s a lovely little treat at the end of the night. I also love sugar-free coffee sweetener. It’s not the best choice I make but there’s no sugar. Another way I satisfy the sweet tooth is flavored sparkling water. One of my personal favorites is Waterloo Strawberry flavor. Yum!
So, this year with my birthday falling so close to the Tahoe Show, I am staying on track with my macros and my meals and will be enjoying a Chobani yogurt for my dessert. I will do my birthday workout (legs, anyone). And after the show, I will celebrate with a Girl Scout cookie (samosa are my go-to) and a big, fat burger and fries. I will invite a few friends and family over post-show to celebrate poolside with barbeque, lots of fruit, good drinks, and of course, a few treats.