Food is not a cure-all...

One important lesson I have learned, and am still learning in this journey is that there will be hiccups. Just because I have decided I want to be healthy and fit, does not always mean the emotional side of my brain will listen to the logical side of my brain. Sometimes, emotions will run high, and the desire to turn to food for comfort or turn to food to fill a need (other than hunger) will arise. I am currently in the midst of one of those times. It will be short-lived, and I will not falter, because even now as I am writing, I am gaining the confidence that I will not let this hiccup derail my progress.

This is going to sound childish, but I am trying to be non-specific. Essentially someone hurt my feelings within the last couple of days. Instead of confronting the issue immediately, I let it fester then I saw lots of little things that continued to hurt my feelings. Yesterday, at work, I was a little bored. Not because I don't have a ton to do, but because most of the work I need to do is office work. I enjoy working with children and I like a nice mix of office work and working with kids.

Essentially, here is the UGLY equation:

Festering Hurt Feelings + Boredom+ left over party sweets= potential for disaster.

On the way home from work, I convinced myself that I "needed" chocolate. When I got home, I indulged. At this point, I was still within my points-plus, so it was fine. By the end of the night, I had gone in to some of my weekly allowable; I did not binge on sugar (though, I very easily could have). 

What I should have done was go to planet fitness, but I wanted my three workout days to fall Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday since I am having oral surgery on Friday. In retrospect, I still should have just gone and gotten out of the house and away from temptation. I always feel better after workout, and I certainly don't want to waste points after I just worked my tush off!!!  

The point of this post is that this morning, I still had the desire for unhealthy eating. Enjoying some chocolate yesterday did not make my issues go away. My feelings are still hurt, and I am still battling some deep rooted insecurities. This fitness journey is not just about eating healthy and exercising, there is a mental and emotional side to eating as well. Until we confront and address those issues, the temptation to turn to food for comfort will always be there. 

The good news is that I am able to recognize the problem and not allow myself to go crazy. Even yesterday, I tracked every bite. Today, I am just going "cold turkey" and not allowing my-self any additional sugar. I am not "waiting for Monday" to restart. I never really stopped. I hit a bump, I recognize it, and I am readjusting. I am also still fully expecting a loss at my weigh-in because I have been well within my weekly allowable points and I did not even touch my exercise points.

I get daily inspirational quotes in my email and the picture above was yesterday's. It couldn't have come at a more needed time. I have the optimism and I have the hope. I am working on the confidence.

On a totally different note: there are a couple of people that I care deeply about that have taken the last couple of days to really start a new exercise and eating program. I am immensely proud of them and hope to continue to receive updates. Here's a shout out to you (if you read my blog!) Keep it up!! I am proud!!

Party Recap: Cupcakes, Icecream, and Krispy Kreme Donuts

I shared with you on Friday that we were heading to Ohio for the kid's birthday party and that being in Ohio was always a struggle for me. Going home to comfort food and snacks; it CAN be a weight watcher's nightmare...but this time, it was not. I am really proud of the choices I made while at home this trip. And, of course, traveling can always be difficult because of the lure of snack food. A trip with no snacking was not only healthier, but it was also cheaper. :)

To recap the weekend, our counseling crew went to lunch on Friday to a place that we had never been. The food was fresh and it was delicious. I definitely ate more points than I planned on, but the food was so fresh that I enjoyed it and did not regret it. On Friday night, as we were traveling, we stopped at a restaurant of Abbi's choosing (for her birthday). I went for the tilapia and steamed rice with a caesar salad. All in all, I ended up using some of my "weekly allowable 49 points" but I was pretty happy with my food choices. I ate out twice in the same day without going crazy.

On Saturday, (party day) I knew it was going to be a high point day. I started the day with a run; I did

between 3.1 and 3.5 miles total. Its hard to know exactly because we were running on a loop at a park and there was no good mile marker. We were told the loop was right at a mile, but based on my pace, I think its a little less than actual mile. I went 4 loops; Jon went 5. We warmed up together, ran one entire loop at my pace and then cooled down together. It felt great exercising with him. It also felt great being able to completely run the loop 2 times with no walking. I did interval walking on the 3rd loop. (The 4th loop was our warm up/cool down and a little running to finish out the time). Overall, it was a great 40 minute workout.

In anticipation for the party, I only ate a protein bar after my run. At the party, I kept portions small (or normal) and stayed within my points range. I ate one cupcake and one scoop of ice cream. For "dinner" i had one serving of veggie chips. I ended party day with only using 1 "weekly allowable."

Sunday was travel day; traveling as a weight watcher is much cheaper than traveling as a snacker! My big problem came when we got home. Allowing myself a cupcake on Saturday, and a cupcake on

Sunday with lunch, my body was craving sugar. Little sister had a box of krispy kreme donuts at my house when I got home and I gave in and ate 1. Just 1. But on top of the cupcake from earlier, my "not used to sugar" body rejected that donut! I was sick during my run Sunday night. I still made it 3.3 miles, but it was not a happy 3.3 miles.

Overall, the weekend went very well. The party was a success; I got to see and vist with lots of family that I had not seen in a while. I also got to meet my life-long friend's new baby :) She is such a sweet sweet baby.

I am going to weigh in this week on Wednesday morning, but then its back to Sundays. My weekends have been a little crazy lately, but I see things settling soon. I was able earn 49 activity points last week, so I am hoping to hit 50 this week.

Hope you all had an enjoyable weekend.
Working my way to fit,

Kati