If you know me, you know I’m an open book and if you ask, I don’t mind telling you my age, weight, measurements, etc. On my Facebook page, I share my day to day journey as I’ve lost weight, and what works for me. You may have the impression that since I’ve lost as much as 87 pounds, that I have it all figured out and that it’s no longer a struggle for me. I’m here to tell you that even though I may be close to goal weight, I still mess up and regress to my old pig out mode at times. It happens a lot less frequently than before I lost weight, but I’m not perfect and still go off the deep end, diet wise, occasionally. When this happens it’s almost always due to emotional eating. The latest occurrence was this past weekend. What caused it? I had run a 5k the weekend before and strained my calf muscle in my leg. I had to take a week off from my training plan for a half marathon that I’ll be running in September. Major disappointment for me! By last Saturday my leg was on the mend , but not 100% better. I had already preregistered for a 5k for that day and planned to try running , but walk if my leg started hurting. I ended up running the whole race and sprinting hard at the end, which caused the strain to be worse than before. After the race, I realized I would have to take at least another week off from running, which really bummed me out. The day before I had had a very blah day, really feeling sorry for myself and just felt down. When I went shopping Saturday afternoon I wasn’t in the mood to resist the foods that I can usually leave at the store. Although what I ate that day was too much, I’m glad that at least I had the sense to be somewhat controlled about it. I wanted macaroni and cheese, which for me is the ultimate comfort food. Instead of making a big casserole of it, I bought a Lean Cuisine Macaroni & Cheese and ate it for dinner. if I’d stopped there, I would have been fine, but nooooooooooooooo, I was gonna have some fun, so I bought some Chex Mix.
I ate the whole bag (oink oink) that weekend. As I finished the bag, I looked at the list of ingredients on the back and thought about how that totally goes against my goal of clean eating.
Everyone knows when you have a party, you need to have something sweet with your salty. My drug of choice happens to be chocolate. When I shopped on Saturday at least I was smart enough to just buy one salty junk food and one sweet.
I bought a bag of Dove whole cherries dipped in dark chocolate. If you haven’t tried these, they are the bomb dot com!
I ate the whole bag (oink oink oink!!!) that day. 800 calories in that bag. At least the dark chocolate and the dried fruit were a lot better than the stuff I can’t pronounce in the Chex Mix.
The next day on Sunday afternoon we went to my mother-in-law’s to celebrate her birthday and had a steak cookout. I ate steak, potato salad, tossed salad, corn on the cob, and a slice of lemon pie with homemade REAL whipped cream. (Yum yum yum!) I also snacked on a cup of peanut M&Ms while there and ate an ice cream cone.
By Monday I knew I had to get back to eating right. I baked a seven flavor pound cake to take to The Shed Fitness Center to share with everyone I work out with. On Tuesday I ate a small 1 inch slice just to be sure it tasted good enough to share. (Strictly for quality control purposes! 😀). I counted it in my Fitness Pal and still stayed in my calorie limit for the day.
I weighed myself this morning and I’ve gained a pound from the bad eating over the weekend. I know I just have to forgive myself, grow and learn from this, and move on. Just like the Irasalites in the Old Testament, I have wandered in the wilderness for way too long. I know God wants more for me, and if I will just do my part, I can get it right. If you’ve been struggling with the same problems with self control, you are definitely not alone! Don’t ever think that everyone else has it so much easier. We all struggle with temptations. They are just in different forms for different people. If I walked into a room filled with drugs, alcohol, sexy guys, and a scrumptious looking buffet, I’d be making a bee line toward the buffet. No doubt about it! Food is my vice! I’ve just learned to control the temptation and eat my favorites in moderation. When I mess up, I have to love myself as much as Jesus loves me, and do better. I’m praying that by being totally transparent and sharing my struggles, I can help others see that it is a continuous journey that you won’t always get right. The main thing is, you go right back to eating healthy and being active daily! No one is perfect except for Jesus. Just strive to do better with each day! Phil. 4:13
Cyberdi Fitness Journey 