Getting back on the “lifestyle change” wagon

As you already know, I spent 2 weeks with my mom back in June. I can’t explain it, but there is something about being at my old house that just sends me into an overeating mode.

Maybe it’s memories of my dad, what life used to be like, the access to foods typically not available to me unless I’m in Puerto Rico (quesitos, yum) or simply being happy to spend time with mom, but I have a hard time not overeating. Well, not so much overeating, as it seems I’ve curbed that issue for now, but just eating a lot of a little in general.

Now that I’m back in my daily environment, things are back to their usual pace. I’m so grateful for that. Except for the hummingbird cake that stared at me for the first three days after we got back, things have been very manageable.

Speaking of the hummingbird cake, Jason bought it for a friend to celebrate her birthday. As it turns out, her boyfriend doesn’t like nuts (one of the main ingredients of the cake) and she couldn’t imagine eating it all by herself, so at my weak-willed request, Jason brought it home. (It’s an expensive cake – whether you buy it or spend your personal time making it. You just don’t throw away a hummingbird cake.)

So I had a slice the day after we got home.

And another slice the day after that.

And before I was able to eat anymore, my husband was “kind” enough to throw the rest of the cake away. The frugal me anguishes over the action, the determined me is happy he did what he did.

The thing is, I love this cake. I really LOVE this cake. (This is where my husband would say “Well, why don’t you marry it?” We’re not childish at all…) If you ask me what kind of cake I want for my birthday, I would almost always have two answers: Hummingbird Cake and Wedding Cake (a simple white box cake soaked with almond extract).

So, if you’re like me and you can’t say no to hummingbird cake, I’ve sprinkled a few photos in this post with links to healthier versions of this fantastic concoction. If you must eat it, at least you can eat it a bit lighter. I haven’t tried these recipes, so let me know if one of these is a real gem…

Obviously, even lightened, I can’t go around eating hummingbird cake all the time, so I did some searching and found this fantastic recipe for a Hummingbird Cake Smoothie. The only difference between her recipe and mine is two-fold: I prefer almond milk over soy milk and since I read a few posts on chia seeds, I’ve started throwing them into all my smoothies. Normally, I would add greek yogurt to most of my smoothie recipes, but this really does taste better without it:

Yum.

Oh, and are you wondering why this smoothie recipe makes 2 servings? As it turns out, the girl is a big fan of smoothies. My smoothie is never *my* smoothie, so I end up sharing. If I only made the recipe for one, I’d be lucky to get just 1/4 of the smoothie.

What? This meal is for me, after all. I should be allowed to make sure I feed my body.

What better way to get back on the lifestyle change wagon?