Sunday, February 27, 2011

Thinner By Tuesday

I recently rejoined weight watchers, and I am really enjoying their new "points plus" system. So far I am two weeks in and feel like I am consistently making better choices.

Yesterday however, did not go as planned.

We are in the process of moving and we are at that stage where we are looking for our new place, and waiting to hear if we will get it -- while simultaneously trying to sell our old place. So, we had a three year old's birthday party to attend, but had crammed the day with getting ready for our first open house and entertaining our niece who is visiting from out of state. At 7:30 am we hit the ground running - cleaning, cleaning, cleaning until about 10:45 then baths, showers, getting kids dressed and into car, shopping for birthday presents, over to Grandmas to wrap the present pick up our niece, run down to Peet's for a cup of coffee and then cruise by the place we are hoping to get on the way to the party. Breakfast was just not part of the plan. We stopped at Noah's and I had a zero point real fruit cup -- but I didn't plan for a lunch for myself with anything sustaining.

Then the party. Food was in the air. Meat. Other stuff. Potato Salad. I tried not to look. I picked at the veggie and fruit platter, sans dips. I had a pig in a croissant blanket and then another, and then tried to avoid the table all together. An hour and a half into the party, as the cupcakes were being passed around, I was still able to resist. I took my niece on a little field trip and even skipped getting any sugary treat away from prying eyes. Then back to the party, children in melt down, headed back to Grandma's and got cheese pizza. By then it was 4:45 and I was beyond hungry. Four slices of cheese pizza later (two of my own, and the rest of two of the kid's slices) and I had lost control.

Losing control sucks! I had been doing great all week and then binge. Big time. But it isn't the end of the world. Especially as I am tracking my food intake through Points Plus I can step back and see I should have eaten something before arriving at the party.

Party Trick #1:
If you are in a period where you are actively trying to lose weight -- eat before the party. Do not arrive to the party hungry and just leave your calorie intake to the whim of whatever the host may be serving.

It is one thing to treat yourself to something that looks good to you that you want -- it is another to just mindlessly stuff your face. One is enjoyable, the other is depressing -- at least to me.

So, what could I have done differently? Maybe the biggest opportunity was with the pizza. I really needed an alternative for myself that would have been smart -- only I didn't speak up to make it happen. I thought I could just have 1 slice of pizza despite having years of experience that prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that when I am hungry and there is pizza I measure my meal in slices and not bites.

If I had wanted to enjoy a slice of pizza & a huge salad, or a bowl of soup, or a bowl of low point value cereal -- I would have felt much more in control. The feeling of being out of control is one of the least pleasant parts of being over weight. When you carry extra weight it is like a red flashing sign that says to the world "Lack of control". I hate carrying the weight of that stress.

All in all Saturday could have been so much worse. I could have had so many extra calories in the form of meat, cupcakes, brownies, girl scout cookies, alcohol etc and I said no to each of those choices. Overall I would give myself a B. But in the weight loss struggle to meet the honor roll of weight loss -- you really need to strive for straight A's.

However you define that A grade it means you feel good about what you are doing. I don't care if that means you feel good about just eating one Large Pizza instead of two. Progress is personal. Strive for your own personal best. This is how weight loss happens and how you can find happiness. Do better than you did last time. Recap what happened, how you felt about it and do something different.

I for one, may be packing something like a pre-portioned serving of Fiber One in my purse for emergencies. That cereal may have been the difference between two and four slices of pizza. Two would have been more than enough.

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