In this episode of Q&A with Adee Cazayoux, founder of Working Against Gravity, Adee answers questions about having a healthy Valentine’s Day.

This week is all about love, and Wednesday is the “Big Day.” Valentine’s Day gives you the perfect excuse to tell your loved ones how grateful you are for them and how much they've impacted your life (in case you needed an excuse). It's also a day that comes with chocolate, cake, wine and roses, which is why we’re sharing some of our favorite ways to approach Valentine's Day even with all of the temptations lurking.

Q: How can I stay accountable on Valentine’s Day?

Valentine's Day is full of sweet treats and temptations, but if you prepare ahead of time, you can make sure that you're not going to derail your progress and you’ll see that you actually can continue to make progress. Here are a few things you can do to be accountable to your program, your nutrition, or your goals:

  1. Be clear on what it is you're trying to achieve. Remind yourself what your goals are, maybe write them down or share them with a friend, it's going to keep you motivated throughout the day. I promise you that once Valentine's Day passes, you'll forget about all those temptations because they're not in front of you anymore. So, be really clear on what it is you're trying to achieve.
  2. Make a hard and fast rule about what you're going to do. Let’s say you're going to have a piece of cake or a glass of wine; decide how much you're going to have ahead of time. We've all been in a situation at a restaurant where we have a goal we want to achieve or we really want to keep our nutrition dialed in, but then we have the menu with tons of options in front of us and we feel menu anxiety. So we opt for what we know tastes really good. It's not 100 percent healthy or exactly what we wanted to be eating, so we feel a little bit guilty afterward. But by deciding “I'm only going to have one glass of wine,” that decision is already made and we totally get rid of any of that anxiety we feel making a choice in the moment.
  3. The third thing is to communicate your goals to the people you are spending Valentine’s Day with. If that means you don't want to have any chocolate at all, let them know and that can save you from the surprise box of chocolates that they might have brought you because they thought they were doing something kind.

Q: I really love chocolate… If I’m going to have some, what’s the best approach?

If you're going to be indulging in something sweet and tempting on Valentine's Day, here are my two favorite tips for how to go about it:

First, don't overbuy. It's so easy to pick up a ton of chocolates or a large cake on Valentine's Day. But if you can, buy smaller portions of exactly how much you're going to have that day, then you won't have a ton of leftovers that you need to get rid of afterward. Also, if your favorite temptation comes in a larger serving, take the serving size that you want out right away. For me, I absolutely love M&M's. So if I'm going to have some M&M’s, I get the big family style bag, take my serving size out, then put it in a ziplock and put the rest in a place where I'm not going to be able to get it, or I give it to somebody else — whatever it is I have to do with it. Out of sight really does mean out of mind.

Second, holidays like Valentine's Day are often centered around food, and that's really a good thing. It brings people together, gives people something to talk about and it creates memories. We all love being circled around a dinner table, talking about how delicious the food is. However, if you really want to be on track with your goals, this can sometimes make the holidays difficult because we want to give into the temptations that society has for us. Instead, why not create your own tradition? It doesn't necessarily have to be centered around food.

Something Michael and I love to do is catch the sunset in the best spot in the city. Since we're in Austin, we'll go to Mount Bonell and watch the sunset from there. Or sometimes we'll go take the dog out to the dog park, or go on a hike somewhere and spend the night camping. Whatever it is, create your own tradition. It makes it all the more special because it's yours and it’s something that you connect on that's different than food — and for us, those traditions are in places that make it difficult to indulge in food as well. Don't follow the path that's well-traveled, create your own.

That's a wrap on Valentine's Day, I hope that you go out there and show some love to all the people that matter to you in your life, whether it's a spouse, a boyfriend, girlfriend, or just a couple of friends — maybe even just your dog. It's an excuse to tell people how much you love them and I love you guys. By the way, if you really want a snack to eat on Valentine's Day, check out our episode from last week where we made some black bean brownies. They’re really delicious and will satisfy that chocolate craving.