Cooking With (Insert Your Name Here)

On nights you're tired and running late, it might be tempting to stop at the Colonel's place on the way home, but instead of treating dinner preparation as a chore to be avoided, try to turn it into something you look forward to.

Turn on music, fix yourself a wine spritzer (half dry white wine and half seltzer), and enjoy getting away from the day and fixing a healthy dinner. The chopping, rinsing, mixing, grilling, can be relaxing if approached in the right frame of mind. Why, after all, do so many people consider cooking one of their favorite hobbies? If you're a drama queen like me, pretend you have your own Food Network show and camp your way through it.

You'll know exactly what ingredients are going into your food and you'll probably save an enormous amount of calories and fat grams over a drive-thru dinner. Plus knowing you took that extra step to eat right despite being tired will motivate you to go into the next day with strong resolve to eat right again. Why, after all, waste all that good willpower just to toss it out the window the next day?