I am extremely fortunate to be able to escape the Toronto heat each weekend and join my family at our summer home on Lake Simcoe. The cottage, or “cotty” as we have officially coined it, is pretty much like a summer camp where friends and family are constantly coming and going. Thanks to my chef mom and sister, the cotty is pretty much known for it’s food. The meals are amazing and MASSIVE. As our good friends aptly said one time, the cotty is where you “eat like you are going to the electric chair.”
For our visitors, the food is exciting and they like to go all-out, as for many, it’s the only chance they’ll get to enjoy the famous cotty eats. My mom and sisters are known for making wood-oven pizzas, cinnamon rolls, enough meat to feed a small country (or just feed DC), baked potato bars, deep dish chocolate chip cookies and charcuterie boards that are magazine worthy.
Are you drooling yet? While it all sounds amazing, and trust me it is, when you’re up there every weekend it is easy to get carried away and gain a few “cotty pounds” as we like to say. For me, I am a sucker for dessert but I find it particularly hard to say no to all the incredible food and drinks that are prepared each day.
I try to come up with a game plan to stay on track with my health and fitness each weekend, but if I’m being completely honest, I fail, a lot. It is something I am still working on but I also try not to dwell on it too much. After all, Toronto summers are short so it’s not like we eat this way for most of the year.
When I do come up with a game plan to stay healthy at the cottage, it looks really similar to my healthy eating tips on vacation. The idea is that you want to find a balance between enjoying your life without coming home like you’re starting from scratch.
So whether you’re at a friend’s cottage up north, on vacation, or just looking for every day “rules” to follow, here are my 6 healthy eating tips.
1. Go healthier during the day
This may not work for everyone, but for me, I like to eat lighter, and more nutritious during the day so at night I can enjoy whatever I want for dinner, dessert and of course drinks! I try and stick to the rule of enough fat, fibre, protein, whole grains and greens during breakfast and lunch. This is especially important if you plan on drinking at night. Not because alcohol has more calories but because once you get drunk, I dare you to pass up my mom’s homemade deep-dish pizza.
2. Snack smart
It’s easy to get carried away with all the snacking at the cottage. For someone like me who is always busy during the week, I find it hard to slow down and I get bored quickly. When I’m bored I like to snack but the snack situation at the cotty is next level. At any given moment there is a fresh loaf of bread being pulled out of the oven with the most gourmet dips and cheeses you can imagine. Add all the junk food staples that every cottage has and its temptation-city wherever you go. I always want to join in on the snack party and a good way to do that is by choosing a high-volume, low-calorie option like water-based vegetables. Think: celery, cucumber, zucchini. You can graze all day on them and feel like you are snacking with everyone else. Just watch the dips and try to portion them out!
3. Don’t be afraid to modify in front of family and friends
Health-shaming is a real thing and I wrote a whole blog post about it here. It’s when you get made fun of for making healthier choices. And how crazy is that!! Imagine laughing at someone for choosing a cheeseburger at a BBQ – that would never happen! The truth is, wherever you go, there will always be people who feel uncomfortable about you making healthy choices. Just know it stems from their own insecurities and has nothing to do with you. So don’t be afraid to ask for no cheese, dressing on the side, an extra serving of steamed vegetables, saying no to booze, or whatever it is you need that weekend. If you feel uncomfortable, offer to bring a dish that you know you would eat or help prepare a meal in the kitchen with the host. Either way, you do you!
4. Pick and choose your indulgences
I’m all for indulging (clearly) but that doesn’t mean eating everything in site. If you know the menu in advance (and I almost always do because that’s all my family talks about haha) make your decision beforehand about what your treat will be. You can even write it down somewhere or tell someone, to hold you accountable. For example, in this video you’ll see I knew that my anniversary dinner was my night to indulge and ate mindfully leading up to it. I mean, I’ll do anything for carrot cake!
5. Stick to your routine as much as possible
This is probably my favourite tip! It can be so easy to feel like you fell off the bandwagon after one indulgent meal and just choose to continue eating out of your norm for the rest of the weekend. But by sticking to your routine, you can re-set each day and start fresh. Just like at home, I start each morning at the cotty with water and lemon and then make my bulletproof coffee. If you run each morning, journal, meditate, take vitamins, make a smoothie, and so on, try and stick to it as much as possible. It will help with digestion, cravings and emotionally keep you on track.
6. YOLO…to an extent
A big part of being at the cotty, or anywhere on vacation, is relaxing and having fun! Food is meant to be enjoyed. What I work on every day is removing my emotional attachment to food as much as possible so I can indulge without guilt and eat well without feeling proud. Just know that one “bad” meal won’t throw you off course and one “good” meal won’t make you reach your goals that day. It’s what you do consistently that matters the most. So YOLO (or for me, YOL every weekend until summer is over).