What’s the weirdest reason for cancelling an appointment? Well, today I think I went close to the top of the list.

I was leaving to go to a client’s home today. I’d pushed the button to open the garage door, locked the door into the house, set the alarm and as I turned around to head to my car saw a HUGE snake crawling into the garage. He must have been right against the garage door when I opened it. There is NO WAY he could have gotten under it. He was as big around as my arm. SERIOUSLY! I scream and try to get back into the house. But, remember I’d locked the door? Fumbled with the keys and got back in. Close the door, run in the house, drop everything in my arms and head for the phone. Then, we have this thing called the “Garage Door Butler” which is, under normal circumstances, quite a help. It hadn’t been working in a while, but I got it working this morning. It closes the door after it has been open for a certain amount of time – lets say – oh, three minutes. I hear the Garage Door Butler beeping (indicating it is about to close). I open the door a crack and – the house alarm goes off! I stop the garage door from closing and see the snake heading to the back corner of the garage. Needless to say the dogs are now freaking out trying to figure out what is up. .BARK! BARK! BARK! is their contribution to the melee as the alarm is going off. I slam the door to the garage and head to the other keypad in the bedroom to turn the alarm off.

I finally stop shaking enough to get the phone book out and call animal control. Voicemail. Voicemail? Its 4:50! I call the non-emergency police number and say “THERE IS A HUGE SNAKE IN MY GARAGE!” and get “Hold on a second” and get transferred to a person in animal control who sends an animal control officer my way.

I then call my client and tell her, “Hi, I can’t make it today because there is a HUGE SNAKE IN MY GARAGE.” She understands and we re-schedule. She’s quite concerned because they’ve had the occasional snake around as well.

The animal control officer shows up (one of the things I like about Sugar Land is city services are very responsive.) I tell her what happened and describe the snake. She says, “what color is it?” “Black” I say. “Great. .. ” she says. I pull the cars out of the garage after she has made sure it is safe around the cars. After poking around the garage, she finds the snake and says “Yeah, he is a biggie.” Ha! I wasn’t exaggerating. Then she says “Yeah, these guys get fat.” Hum – not sure what that says about my arms, but I’ll take it as a compliment. She moves things around and finally snags the snake. He is a very angry, large snake. I’d say 4 – 5 feet long and, did I say, ANGRY! Turns out it is a cotton-mouth/water moccasin. Yeah, very poisonous. She says “He could do a lot of damage.” Great. . . . . He is continually striking at her. Glad the pole she is using to hold him down is long and made of sturdy metal.

Here’s a picture of the HUGE SNAKE that was in the garage. http://www.twitpic.com/44l2j She ends up putting him in the heavy duty garbage bag because he wouldn’t stay in the plastic box she brought. Then she says, “We have a new trainee. I’ll take the snake to him and let him practice with it, then we’ll relocate it.” Glad I could be of service in educating our animal control officers (who I really like – by the way).

So, here’s my entry in weird reasons for cancelling a client appointment. The snake is gone and I’m having to convince myself it is OK to get in the car and head to the grocery store. . . . . .Maybe I’ll just have soup for dinner. . . .. .

Have you ever been around someone who is continually pushing food on you or others?  Parents and grandparents are excellent at being “food pushers.”  I was in a meeting this week where the host was continually offering chocolate cookies to everyone at every break.  “Want a cookie?”  ”Want a cookie?”  Yes! I want a cookie!  But, I’m not going to have a cookie.   This is a very difficult thing for me to do, and honestly I would have eaten the whole bag of cookies if I didn’t have a good reason not to.  Right now, not eating those cookies is more important to my health than eating them.  So, I was able to avoid the temptation.  However, I know it is not always that easy.

What should you do when you encounter a food pusher?  Unfortunately, it is usually someone you know.  Its not like you’ll be walking down the street and some guy opens up his trench coat and say “Hey, I got some fresh, hot, gooey chocolate chip cookies here.  Want one?”  No, that would be easy.  Usually the food pusher is  someone who you do not want to hurt.  Or, someone who associates food with love.  “Come on Jimmy, you’ve always loved my chocolate cake and I made it just for you.”

1. Take a small serving and enjoy it.  However, if you know a small serving will set you off and you’ll end up eating more, try not to even do that.
2. Say, “Thank you so much!  But, I’m stuffed right now.  Maybe in a little while.”
3. Say, “Thank  you so much!  I’m stuffed right now.  How about if I take some home for later.”  Then, either give it to an urban camper (AKA homeless person) or throw it away when you get home.
4. Explain to the person that you really do love them and their food, but you are trying to eat healthier/maintain your weight/lose weight/whatever is the right message.  Then, suggest something to do with them that is non-food related.
5. If you have a good relationship with the person, you can gently say tell them they are being a food pusher.  Often, people don’t realize what they are doing and will stop when they realize it.

I’m really good at setting high expectations and goals for myself, then being disappointed when I don’t reach them.  However, one thing I have learned is to celebrate when I do things right – even if it is something small.  Yeah, small – like choosing to have veggies over chips with my sandwich.

I think we often get caught up in thinking that if we don’t do everything “perfect” then all our hard work doesn’t count.  We want to eat “perfectly” then get upset about having that dessert – regardless of the fact that we ate all our target servings of fruits and vegetables for the day.  Well, rather than focusing on the negative, here’s what I suggest.  When you do something “right,” or something that moves your towards your goal, give yourself a pat on the back.  “I’m proud of myself for eating veggies with my sandwich rather than the Cheetos I really wanted.  Keep up the good work, girl!”  If you do something that doesn’t move you towards your goal, think about why you made that choice and what you would do differently.  Then, don’t dwell on it – move on!  The next time that choice comes up, think about what happened last time and what you said you’d do differently – and DO IT!

Life is too short to continually focus on the negative.  Take some time out and celebrate the positives!

I grew up around Tex Mex and Mexican food.  If you are from the Southwest, you know that most Mexican food is served with Spanish rice.  Honestly, I’m not sure what all is in Spanish rice (other than rice and occasionally carrots and/or peas).  But, as I kid I decided rice just shouldn’t be that color and refused to eat it.  Refused to eat it all the way to now.  For some reason, I couldn’t bring myself to try it again.  That is . . . until we spent a week in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.  Some Spanish rice arrived on my plate one night that looked different – it wasn’t too red/orange and looked fluffy.  Hum. . . could this be different?  With some apprehension, I tried a bite.  It was WONDERFUL!  I ate all of it and would have eaten more.  Why was this rice so different?  Because the flavors were not overpowering and it was light and fluffy (lots of time what you get is dry and clumpy Spanish rice).

I see this issue with many clients – particularly with vegetables.  “I don’t like carrots,” they proclaim.  “I don’t like any vegetables and you’re not going to change my mind!”  When I ask why they don’t like vegetables, a lot of times it comes down to the way they are cooked.  Most of our moms served vegetables boiled to the point of being mushy.  People are turned off by the mouth feel, flavor and look of those mushy vegetables and can’t get those memories out of their heads.  Cooking methods have come a long way and now steaming, stir frying and other cooking methods are commonly used that keep the flavor and crispness of the vegetable.  This also completely changes the mouth feel.  When I bring this up and ask them to “just try it and see” it is not uncommon to hear back that they are now enjoying more vegetables.  Additionally, our tastes change over time.  Something you disliked a long time ago, you may find you now enjoy.

Is there a food you developed an aversion to as a child?  If so, ask yourself why.  Was it the mouth feel, color, texture, or some other memory associated with it?  Then, I’ll challenge you to try it again in the next couple of weeks and see what you think.  I’m not saying you have to eat a whole bowl of peas if you think you don’t like peas, but next time they are an option, give them a try and see what you think.  If you still don’t like them, at least you know.  But, on the other hand, maybe you can expand your food horizons and choices.

I was listening to an audio session by Nancy Clark, one of the best Sports Dietitians in the business the other day.  The session is about eating to lose weight while still being active.  One concept she brought up struck a cord with me.  In a prior blog post, I talked about using the “Apple Test” to determine if you are hungry or craving something.  Nancy had another great suggestion.  If you are not sure if you are hungry, as yourself to HALT - ask yourself if you are Hungry, Angry, Lonely or Tired.  If you’re hungry, make a good choice.  If you are angry or lonely ask yourself if eating will resolve what you are feeling.  If not, find something else to do which will help address what you are feeling.  If you are tired, you can decide if actually eating will perk you up or not.  If so, then make a choice that includes some carbohydrates, protein and fat to give you energy while prolonging the crash that would happen if you chose something that was high in refined sugar.  Best case, keep a good choice handy – in your car, desk, briefcase or purse - so you will not be tempted to head for the vending machine.

Next time you are not sure if you are really hungry, ask yourself to HALT, then decide if and what to eat.