I love mojitos. A bubbly concoction of rum, mint and lime, they're especially refreshing. The mojito (moe-hee-toe) is my favorite summer cocktail, and it pairs beautifully with my porch rocking chair and a nice summer breeze (did I just say that? Wow, I'm getting old!).



However, there are a couple inherent problems with my favorite drink. The first problem is that on the rare occasion that Keith and I go out for drinks, I'm usually looking at a 50/50 shot at getting a mojito, since a lot of restaurants don't stock fresh mint. The second problem is that once the bartender tops the rum with sugar or "simple syrup" (simply sugar and water!), this refreshing Cuban drink can pack a caloric punch to the tune of 200+ calories -- each!



Lucky for me, the only thing I've managed to grow successfully in my summer garden is spearmint. It's popping up everywhere, including outside the garden. I don't think I could kill it if I tried...which is good, because as it turns out, I don't have much of a green thumb. I did manage to harvest a few lovely tomatoes before the plant mysteriously wilted and my basil is doing ok. So really, my summer is pretty much complete with the endless makings for mojitos to serve with caprese salad. Yum!



Here in my neck of the woods, we've just celebrated The Fourth of July -- American Independence Day. And what's more American than egg rolls? Huh? What?!



Actually, there's some truth in this. Italian, Mexican, Chinese and other international cuisines are all influenced by our American ways. Some good influences, some bad (portion sizes, for one!), and some just different.

 So our cousins Tony, Julie and their daughter Sirona come to visit us from Arizona every year at this time. Julie and I are having a blast in the kitchen, preparing dinners, discussing menus and having companionship as we wash the mountains and mountains of dishes in the sink (4 adults, 3 kids, a revolving door of visitors, 2 dogs, 2 cats and a tortoise make for a lot of dishes!). Anyway, I love it -- the chaos, the family bonding, and the cooking!



Julie and I were talking about some of our vices, and she asked me how bad egg rolls really are. "Wait, never mind -- I don't want to know. It's not going to stop me from eating them." Oh, Julie. You can't bait me like that and not expect me to go on a research mission to find the answer -- good or bad!



It's after school and the kids really want ice cream...and I skipped lunch, so I'll just have this milkshake. It can't be as bad as if I'd eaten a meal, right? Or, instead of my normal sandwich and fruit, I'll just grab a salad at the nearby restaurant. Better? Or, I didn't eat everything on my plate, so I couldn't have had too many calories. Does this sound familiar?
 
I feel duped. And sabotaged.
 
I'm a chronic label reader, as you know. But what if there isn't a label? More and more restaurants are now including nutrition labels on their menus. But what about the ones that don't? Do you know what you're eating?
 
Men's Health recently reported that Cold Stone Creamery's PB&C milkshake has 2010 calories -- "the equivalent of 68 strips of bacon or 30 chocolate chip cookies" -- 68 grams of saturated fat (131 total fat grams) and 153 grams of sugar. WHAT?! Not that I've ever had one of these, but I'm sure I've had something similar somewhere along the way. Unbelievable. And is it really THAT good? I'd not only have to skip lunch, I'd have to not eat for two days to justify this type of caloric intake. And there really is no justification for all that saturated fat. The magazine states that their information is from Cold Stone's website, so I looked into it and it checks out. I did have to dig through layers of pages to actually get to the nutrition chart, but it's there. WOW! Not one milkshake has under 1000 calories. And on the preceding page, the company brags about their commitment to our health and their fresh ingredients.

I'm back from vacation! And I feel awful. Really, really awful. Don't get me wrong, my trip with Keith and the kids was fantastic -- we left Charleston for a week-long roadtrip to stay with my parents in beautiful Lancaster, Pennsylvania. We did day trips from there, visiting Washington DC, New York City and Williamsburg, hitting up Hersheypark, showing the kids Amish country and hiking my old camping spot. We really had a wonderful time, we got a ton of exercise, and we feel truly refreshed. So why do I feel so terrible?
 
Well, I figured that just for a week, I could give everyone a break from The Svelte Gourmet kitchen. I admit, I have a tendency to get a little preachy! But this was vacation. No restrictions! My mom has the same svelte mentality that I do, but unfortunately, we only ate a couple meals at home. So theme park food plus road trip stops plus drive-thrus plus candy plus nary a chicken breast equals what? Lethargic, puffy and miserable! I feel like I did my own "supersize me" experiment. I did a quick mental recap of our diet last week, and I realized that we ate mostly high fat meats (if you can call a hot dog meat!), fried madness (more than one funnel cake...seriously?!), and an unreal amount of sodium. And virtually no fiber at all!
 
Has this happened to you on vacation? Or worse, does this resemble your everyday diet? Here's how to get back on track or kickstart your summer-ready fitness plan: