A Memorial Day to Remember by Liimu

Memorial Day is about remembering, especially remembering those heroes who died for our country. It has also become a holiday about food – hamburgers and hot dogs cooked on the grill, fancy cakes decorated to look like the American flag, beer, ice cream, and lots of sitting around by the pool. I can remember holidays past gaining ten pounds in the four-day weekend without breaking a sweat.

This past Memorial Day I spent in the usual way – with my husband and kids, my sister-in-law and my mother-in-law down in Delaware. What was different about it was that my focus during this visit was spending time with family – laughing at “We Bought a Zoo,” hanging out by the pool with my squirmy son and three water baby girls, walking the 3-mile trail with  my sister-in-law while we caught up on what we had been doing over the past couple months.

I have to admit that I have employed some new habits that have made it so much easier to enjoy the holidays without overindulging. I brought Shakeology, which has become my dinner of choice, and had that for dinner each night. I started my days with a 6-mile hike. I drak tons of water. I logged my food on my iPhone using MyFitnessPal.  And you know what? Despite the fact that my birthday, the start of my menstrual cycle and the Memorial Day holiday all happened in the same week, I didn’t gain an ounce. I’m pretty proud of that fact.

Memorial Day is about remembering – and now I can enjoy making memories that have more to do with good times shared with the family than poor food choices I regret when I step on the scale come Tuesday morning.