1. Weekend and Day Trips in the Northeast
I hadn’t explored the northeast at all before moving to Boston, so this summer I knew I really wanted to do that. I love how you can take a day trip to so many cool spots that are just an hour or two away. Momma Coale had a big birthday on Friday and to celebrate, I planned an overnight weekend trip just 90 minutes north in a quaint little coastal town in Maine. It’s a surprise to her so I’ll share more later 🙂 She’s went to Columbus, Ohio over the weekend to visit my brother who wined and dined her and then she’ll come to Boston in July and we’ll celebrate a little late.
It feels like we have a lot of weekends away this summer, but I’m only getting on a flight once which makes the summer feel so much less busy since we’re staying close if that makes sense? Getting in a car = way less stressful than getting on a plane. All our other weekends are day trips or overnight trips to visit family/friends or something else within 1-3 hours from Boston. People say spring and summer here make the winter totally worth it and I think I believe that. Alexis and Simi are coming to visit in July and I’m pumped for that weekend. We are thinking of a day trip to either Cape Ann, Good Harbor Beach or Providencetown. If anyone has recommendations or thoughts I would love to hear!
2. Our metabolism doesn’t function on a 24 hour cycle
I mentioned this briefly in an Instagram live Q&A a few weeks ago and then had a reader email me and ask, “Can you expand on that?” and I said, sure! There was a question about eating x foods or x amount of calories in a day and we were talking about how our metabolisms don’t hit “reset” every 24 hours – rather it’s more accurate to look at things over a longer range of time. Our bodies and metabolism are so dynamic – there is no way we would be able to intellectually know everything going on inside our bodies from day to day (unless maybe there are expensive machines you could be hooked up to 24/7…I’m not sure…) We try to rationalize by thinking, “oh I’ve done x amount of exercise today or I didn’t do x” and so that is why I’m hungrier or not hungrier or why I should eat x and not y…but in reality, we don’t know that much. For so many reasons, our bodies will be hungrier or less hungry on some days than others. And our bodies will want to move more on some days than others. With that in mind, if you don’t feel regular hunger cues, you might need more structure in place to establish a nourishing, rhythmic way of eating.
Metabolism happens in every cell in your body – it’s the balance between reactions that build things up (repairing and storing) and the reactions that break things down (for energy). It’s not that every night at midnight your body’s metabolism hits an internal reset button and everything starts all over. Of course we have a circadian rhythm (aka your sleep/wake cycle) that is a 24 hour internal clock running in the background of your brain that oscillates between sleepiness and alertness. BUT that’s not how your metabolism works. Your body doesn’t expend the exact same amount of energy every day and it doesn’t need the exact same amount of energy intake everyday. There’s a ballpark range, sure. But there is a lot of fluctuation there depending on many factors – not just how much you moved. We hear a lot of rigid, dichotomous thinking around nutrition and exercise, when really there is a lot of nuance when it comes to your body’s energy and nutrition needs and thinking in a more flexible way is can liberating and more accurate. **side note, if you’re in the thick of an eating disorder or are unsure how to adequately nourish yourself, a more structured way of eating is appropriate and what you need while you learn to nourish yourself without external cues before moving onto intuitive eating.
3. Chocolate sauce
I haven’t had chocolate sauce in soooo long. It reminds me of being a kid. I’ve had hot fudge, but I’m talking about the Hershey’s chocolate syrup type stuff. I usually grocery shop at Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods here in Boston (I so wish we had Kroger) and the chocolate syrup at TJs caught my eye when I was in there last weekend so I picked some up. I’ve been drizzling it on ice cream at night and as if I didn’t love ice cream enough, chocolate sauce is making it even better. I hate chocolate chips or m&ms in my ice cream because I really dislike the texture of frozen chocolate (it’s like mealy or something?) so chocolate sauce is where I think it’s at. And this would also make for great chocolate milk. I’m going to make some of that today.
4. Dietland
I went on a long walk with Jessi last weekend and she told me I had to start watching the series Dietland on AMC. I’m only one episode in, but so far it’s pretty good. It’s based off the book and starts out as a story about body image and self-acceptance, but then from what I’ve heard, becomes a personal revolution about challenging the status quo.
5. Emotional Eating
Cara from Street Smart RD wrote a great blog post on emotional eating – highly recommend reading if that sounds like it would be helpful for you.
To answer the question of “What’s wrong with emotional eating?” we really need to ask ourselves whether the frequency or degree to which we turn to food to cope with what we’re feeling is problematic for us as an individual. Emotional eating is not a bad thing. As temporary as that fix may be, it might be the most accessible option for us in that moment. It might be the best tool we have or the most reliable or the quickest. And that is OK. We are imperfect beings and part of that means coping with emotions might get messy. We can weigh the pros and cons of turning to food (How will this food make me feel? What are my other options? Can this particular food provide what I really need right now?) and determine our next steps.”
Have a great week!
![5 Thoughts [including questions to see if you’re at your set point]](https://www.thereallife-rd.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/37629837_10200838216655433_8868399960572297216_n-150x150.jpg)
You should visit Martha’s Vineyard this summer! It’s beautiful and relaxing. I’ve lived in Marshfield (south of Boston) my whole life and MV is one of my favorite places to go. We’ll be spending a week there in August!
I’ve heard such amazing things about Martha’s Vineyard and it’s on the top of my list!!
I literally just moved to Boston after graduating from college and would LOVE to hear about your weekend/day trips and any recommendations!! Unfortunately I don’t have a car but it seems like you can get to a lot of cool places by train and bus!
I’ll share as I explore! Welcome to Boston! We are just 6 months in so newbies too 🙂
I miss New England in the summer! You can’t go wrong with trips to coastal Maine, the Cape / Provincetown, Block Island, Martha’s Vineyard, or Nantucket! I hope you enjoy the proximity of everything and get some good adventuring in — along with some lobster rolls, lots of ice cream, and Cape Cod’s finest Portuguese sweet bread.
Can’t wait to add these all to my list! And yes to ALL THE LOBSTER ROLLS and ICE CREAM CONES. I’ve never had the bread so I’m making note of that – thanks Paula!
Babies and toddlers are really awesome at making the point about our bodies not operating on a 24 hour cycle. It’s so interesting that all the research on how they eat shows that they tend to naturally self regulate but it is over the course of weeks and sometimes even over the course of a month. Some days my two-year-old can eat more than I do and other days he barely eats anything at all. None of that is dependent in anyway on his activity level. he naturally knows how to eat as much as he needs.
1000% agree with your points here Jen!
The body is incredible! My logical brain has to remind the ED brain exactly what you said, that my body does not operate on a 24-hour cycle. That’s why I find the IIFYM (I think that’s what it looks like?) so silly. That diet totally operates on the idea that your body wants a specific amount of macronutrients every single day. People think they are becoming more in tune with their bodies and more flexible with their diets, but they are still just micromanaging what they allow themselves to eat. It’s funny, when I started to learn more about intuitive eating and HAES I realized how the entire premise of dieting makes absolutely no sense when it comes to actual health. Dieting is so normalized. Let’s hope that change is in the wind!
I’m in full support of your thoughts on IIFYM Hillary. You have gained wonderful insight and I think that’s awesome!! Keep blazing this path!
Thanks for including the infographic! Those were just a few of the things I started asking myself when I found myself struggling with emotional eating…and the “struggle” was a self-imposed concept. It’s normal, it’s going to happen, and now I know how I can avoid the cycle of shame and restriction when it comes up. Hope your readers find it helpful, too!
It was fantastic Cara so thank YOU!!
I’m a new follower and I’m loving all you’re insight on intuitive eating and body image, so thank you! I grew up and currently live north of Boston, my suggestions for a Cape Ann day trip would be Good Harbor beach and/or Rockport and Bearskin Neck, lots of fun shops and restaurants here. Also if you’re looking for a nice walk with great views check out the old granite quarries at Rockport’s Halibut Point State Park. I definitely agree that the other 3 New England seasons totally make up for how miserable our winter can be!
Good Harbor Beach seems to be a common recommendation so I’m adding that for next weekend – thanks Abbigail! Love all these suggestions and WELCOME to this space, so glad you’re finding the content helpful! 🙂
I 100% agree with you about chocolate chips/m&ms on ice cream… they completely lose their chocolatey flavor!! Hot fudge/chocolate sauce FTW!!! 🙂
yes yes YESSSS
I live just north of Boston and love Good Harbor Beach! There’s also another beach in the same town (Gloucester, MA) called Wingaersheek Beach that I like a little better. It’s smaller, tends to be less crowded, and has pretty rocks overlooking the water.
Noting both of these! Thanks Erin! 🙂
Love how you described metabolism- thanks for that! Also I totally forgot about chocolate sauce haha but YUM… I always used “magic shell” as a kid and totally need to bring that back!
I forgot about magic shell too!!
Provincetown*** !
Loved the point you made about metabolisms not running onn a 24 hour clock. I find my body tends to average out over about a week or a few days. Always different though, and a stellar you mentioned there are so many contributing factors Iran impossible to calculate or rationalise how much or why your body is caving more or less one day over another.
Also- totally feel you on the frozen chcolate texture. I also love choclate sauce however, & have one tip- add caramel 🙂
Ugh. So sorry- typo central! I’m in an airport on my iPhone! Apologies!!
Love all your thoughts here Mia 🙂 AND I actually bought caramel at TJs this weekend so I’m well stocked 🙂
I love that you’re coming to Maine! Especially this time of the year, it will be nice. I can’t wait to hear more about your trip and what you end up doing. As always, love reading your blog.
I’m excited to visit!! thank for reading Julissa 🙂
So excited that you’re excited to checkout the Northeast. I always say how fortunate I am to live in place where I can see the ocean everyday but still be in the mountains or “country” in under an hour. Though the weather can be brutal in the winter, the summer and fall more than make up for it!
I know it’s a secret for your Mom, but I would love to know where in Maine you are heading! I was born and raised here, and after traveling and living all over the globe, have settled into “home” once again. If I know where you’re headed, I would love to suggest some off the beaten path things and give you a bit of “locals only” knowledge!
Yes that is what I love so much about it here too Angelina! I told her! We are going to Kennebunkport, MA so I would LOVE suggestions!
I love that infographic; thanks for sharing! I can definitely relate to expressing yourself creatively and challenging myself to something new with starting my blog this year!!
Good for you Brittany!! Super courteous and brave – wishing you the best of luck AND pure enjoyment in writing the blog 🙂
Love your blog, Robyn!! It has taught me so much! What you shared about metabolism makes so much sense!
So glad it was helpful Katherine!
Little weekly trips sound so fun. I love exploring that doesn’t take much work. 🙂 I also love exploring that takes more planning, but fun weekend trips are wonderful ways to spice up the summer. I really want to go learn more about that series Dietland now.
And chocolate sauce + peanut butter is one of my favorite ways to have icecream.
Yes totally agree with your thoughts on weekend trips Emily! And that’s a great idea to drizzle on some PB too 🙂
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