What a terrible weekend for my diet, yet somehow I am happy to see the scale reflecting a loss today. My husband's sister stayed with us for the weekend, and only having the chance to see her once a year or so meant a lot of celebrating and catching up - and that means dips & chips and restaurants, and plenty of adult drinks!
I tried to be good, but sometimes it was simply impossible to resist. A giant appetizer of fried calamari...her favorite Chicago stuffed pizza with pepperoni...a trip to the Oberweis Dairy store for some ice cream. I decided to limit my "adult" drinks to two per day, and stuck with drinks that weren't overloaded with sugary syrup. There is no such thing as lo-cal liquor, but the mixers are what really put those drinks over the top with calories. While I definitely indulged, I'm proud to say that I managed to keep faithful to my two-drink limit. Since my partners in crime WEREN'T under any such limit, they usually slept late in the morning, giving me a few hours to myself, and I was proud that one of those mornings I spent an hour jogging on the treadmill in the basement. I'm also proud that I talked them into spending one afternoon in Chinatown, where I knew we'd get plenty of walking rather than sitting around the patio table at home with a bowl of chips and dips staring me down!
Overall, I'm content that I still managed to lose a pound in the midst of ugly temptations. I know I should've lost twice as much this week, but under the circumstances, I'm not going to beat myself up over it. I learned that I can have a great time and still maintain control. I can still indulge a little bit, but find ways to compensate for the bad things. Stuffed pizza means treadmill and long walks. Cocktails mean easy on the sugar. I learned that small changes can help keep me on track, and thrilled that I even managed to drop a pound as a result of paying attention.
I'm happy that I enjoyed time with family and allowed myself some indulgences. I'm proud that I found time to exercise and quietly tracked everything I was eating and drinking to maintain control.
Most of all, I'm realizing that there truly is nothing standing in my way to achieve my goal. This journey is about me learning to take responsiblity for my choices, and finding new ways of still having the things I love while not letting it be a license to relinquish control.
Today starts a new week. I'm motivated to get on that treadmill...if it can counter stuffed pizza, just imagine what it will do to salad and broiled fish! I can't wait to find out what this journey teaches me this week.