Lessons From My Big Fat Mexican Family

Have you seen My Big, Fat, Greek Wedding? Well, I have a big, fat, Mexican family.

My mom has 8 siblings. And I have 23 first cousins.

Growing up, I thought it was normal that a family get-together consist of minimum 45 people. I thought it was normal to spend every single weekend with my entire extended family—attending baptisms, birthdays, first communions, anniversaries, holidays.

I also thought it was normal—after said baptisms, birthdays, first communions, anniversaries, and holidays—to celebrate by eating. Not just eating, actually, but completely engorging on chips with Petra's famous homemade salsa verde (that she always brings in a 2-gallon container). And stuffing my face with the honey-baked ham that someone had splurged on that day (following up with a ham sandwich—smothered in mayonnaise—later that night). And indulging in my mom's homemade pinto beans, refried in bacon fat, and wrapped with a warm, buttery tortilla.

I thought it was normal to feel, every weekend, as uncomfortably stuffed as most people feel only after Thanksgiving dinner.

Suffice it to say, my family's lessons on eating right pretty much sucked. Weight Watchers has been instrumental in changing that for me.

However, there was one positive lesson I learned from my family that Weight Watchers could never take away: dance it off, girl.

That's right. No matter the location, every family get-together inevitably ends with a dance party. A makeshift dance floor is created, music is played (or bumped), and family members take turns showcasing their latest moves. It burns off at least a fraction of the calories that were consumed earlier in the day—which is definitely a positive thing!

This past weekend was Easter. And my youngest sister, Katie, took charge of the dance party by trying to teach us the latest urban dance craze: jerking. As in, "can you jerk?"

Katie (left in the below video) can obviously jerk:



Auntie Stephanie can jerk, too:



As for our wino, Jen, who was my weekend guest... well, I'll let you decide for yourself: