Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Being a good host?

Thursday:

If health scares (and shrinking clothes) aren't enough to shock me into working on my health, well then I'll just have to do it anyway.

It is just under ten weeks until my birthday. A good slice of time to work with. Lets see what I can do in ten weeks.

I tried to take the kids to see a movie (the Lego movie) today but the shopping centre was so busy that I couldn't get a parking spot. There were queues of cars going round and round, hoping to pounce when someone left. It is a long weekend here from tomorrow (ANZAC Day, which is to thank our military for their sacrifices) so I guess it was people stocking up on food for that plus school holiday crowds of parents looking for something to do with their bored children. It was weird though, I've never seen it that bad except in the days before Christmas. We gave up after a few laps of the three sections of car-park and came home and they watched Harry Potter on DVD. I was glad I'd done all my grocery shopping earlier in the week.

My dad visited yesterday with his new girlfriend, we went on a boat cruise around the lake then dinner here. He's visiting his brother today but will be back for dinner again tonight. I try not to be a food pusher but my idea of being a good host includes having food available, so chocolate biscuits on the table at afternoon tea time, dessert at dinner time, and cheese and crackers for supper. Wendy had mentioned to me that she had recently lost of lot of weight (nearly 30 kg, 60 pounds) after gaining it when her husband died, and I felt guilty later about offering her all that unhealthy food. I didn't force anything on her (I offer once and don't press) but her idea of being a good guest might include accepting what is offered, especially if the host made it themself and also I know myself that it's not a easy thing to turn down something you like if it's right in front of you. What do people suggest in this circumstance? I know that no-one needs snacks between meals or dessert but it is normal to offer. I suppose I should just make sure there are healthier options available, like fruit maybe, and continue to only offer each thing once.

3 comments:

  1. Well, if you're trying to change your life and habits, why not start there? Offer fresh fruits, a vegetable tray, etc. You're still making things available, but they're not harmful to a healthy diet that way.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I agree with Kyra. You can offer healthy snacks...veggies, fruit slices, etc. In our house we are mostly low-carb, so appetizers are turkey meatballs, cheese cubes, nuts, celery with ranch dip, etc. You can also offer some baked pita chips for those who are not low carb...These are all delicious things. So I'll bet if you didn't say anything, no one would even think they were being offered "healthy" snacks.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I still made a chocolate dessert to go with dinner, but offered a fruit plate for afternoon tea and no supper because I was feeling so full I assumed no-one else needed any. And I felt much better myself without a belly full of cheese at bedtime.

    ReplyDelete