Breaking the habit.

Operation family dinner.

There are two types of family dinners; the mum family dinner and the dad family dinner. Ah, the joy of broken families.

Unfortunately, both my Mum and Dad are guilty of eating badly at different times.

My Mum, just doesn't do food the right way, she is one of these people who will eat a slice of cheese cake and then not eat the next day to make up for it.

My Dad, has a sweet tooth which he decided to pass on to me. Which is fine if I got the super fast metabolism to with it, but I didn't, instead I inherited the metabolism of a slow moving slug.

Growing up I learnt to associate good food, with comfort, security and family.

As an independent woman I go about my day to day life, eating really well, until I am thrown into a family dinner.

Why is it that a self confident, independent, intelligent woman reverts to her childlike self when at a family dinner? Could someone teach said child that a double servings of dessert, that feels fantastic on the way in, will not feel so good later?

As I said previously, I had a family dinner to look forward to. This time it was of the Mum variety. These are actually a lot easier than the Dad family dinner, because at least my Mum appreciates that I might want to watch what I eat. She is the definition of a yoyo dieter.

Being a master tactician I of course planned a strategy to deal with this upcoming meal and I am pleased to report that the family dinner went really well. It was of course a very cunning and complicated strategy, break the habit, by not doing it. Pure Genius!

Ok, I admit, it wasn't exactly rocket science, but it worked. I spent most of the dinner, looking at old photos and laughing.

The garlic bread smelt great and I think this was my greatest challenge. I defeated the fat infused garlic bread in single handed combat using nothing other than a low joule soft drink. Before I knew it we were being served our main meal. Ravioli, tomato based sauce and salad.

The gods rewarded my efforts, by surprising me with a favourite weapon of mine to lower cholesterol, avocado. Yummy avocado!

Everyone, but me, had danish for dessert with low fat custard. Well I thought, I can have low fat custard. I had a very small serving of custard, which meant I didn't sit there watching the others eat their danish. Fantastic!

All in all, a great night out.