Surviving a Holiday without Gaining Weight OR Surviving ANY Day Without Gaining Weight

This past weekend was, of course, a holiday weekend.  I had the BEST weekend ever.  Our closest friends came over and played cards with us, we had hamburgers, our family came over, I volunteered at a race, I exercised, spent some time at the pool, just an all around great time.  We all know that holiday weekends, holiday days, and holiday months are difficult when there is food 'o plenty laying out to be grazed on and it all looks SO good.  My fat cells get happy when I pass by food because they are licking their chops hoping to expand a bit.  Well, I am totally against my fat cells expanding.  I work too hard to let them expand again.  So the question is "How do we survive events when the food is plenty and looks amazingly good and everyone around us is stuffing themselves like Thanksgiving turkeys?"  Well I wish I had all the answers, but I can tell you how I survive and don't gain weight.

First and foremost, always plan ahead.  Never leave home without a package of peanut butter and crackers or a protein bar in your car or your purse.  Being unprepared will add approximately 7-10 pounds per year. It leads to a quick run through the drive thru.  If you do go to a fast food joint, then always order a kids meal.  1/3 of the calories of an adult meal and you still get the feeling of not being deprived.

Let me give you the example of my day yesterday.  I knew my mom was making chocolate chip cookies and we were making homemade ice cream for the Memorial Day festivities.  I knew I wanted to eat a hamburger, potato salad, baked beans, and of course chocolate chip cookies and homemade ice cream.  I planned my breakfast and lunch accordingly.  For breakfast I had some strawberries and blueberries.  For lunch I had a protein bar.  For dinner I had a hamburger, some potato salad, baked beans, 3 cookies and two bowls of homemade ice cream.  The homemade ice cream I dipped less than I normally would have in a bowl so that I could feel like I had two bowls of ice cream.  So in essence, it was one bowl of ice cream but I divided it into two bowls so I felt really indulged.  I enjoyed my dinner so much and all day when I wanted to eat or have a sweet, I told myself, "remember the cookies and the ice cream you are going to get later."

Here is another scenario:  You eat lunch at Chuy's.   By the way, did you know that a Chuy's taco salad only has 389 calories?  Yep, go guiltless there but don't load up on the chips or you will not be guiltless.  Back to the subject, you eat lunch at Chuy's which is great, but don't plan to eat a big dinner.  Eat a smoothie for dinner made up of a cup of orange juice, a half a banana, and some frozen berries.  Or, eat a protein bar for dinner.

Surviving life without gaining weight is all about balance.  If you splurge, then cut back at the next meal. Skip the vicious cycle of guilt.  When you mess up and eat too much, start over right that moment.  Each bite you leave on the plate is calories you skipped.  I have even been known to want a cookie so bad that I put it in my mouth, chewed it up and enjoyed it, then spit it in the trash.  It never made it to my stomach, and all I wanted was the taste anyway, so chew it then spit it out.  May sound gross, but I am totally anti diet.  They don't work so we have to go with what does work. :)

If I eat too much or decide to indulge in an ice cream then I figure up before I eat it how long I have to run to work it off.  If I eat a 400 calorie dessert then I know I have to run 4 miles to run it off.  Then I ask myself if it is worth the 4 miles to eat it.  Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't.  It is all about planning ahead.


Thanks so much for reading my blog!  Go to the right and subscribe to it so you receive emails when I update and you will never miss a post!  Have a fabulous night!

Jennifer

My Inner Fat Chick

Today I have a dose of my reality for you. I share these things today because I want you to know you are not alone.

Yesterday I was in Walmart looking at summer clothes and they had rearranged some things so that the plus sized clothes were where the workout clothes used to be. I didn't realize it and picked up an adorable shirt only to discover it was plus sized. I have worn plus sized clothes many times in my life. I actually thought to myself, "I could eat what I want and wear this and it's cute." My inner fat chick was coming out. I quickly had to shove her back under the covers and smother her. It is sickening to me to think that this is my day to day reality-to shove a fat mentality down on a daily basis. Shouldn't I be home free once I figure out to eat less and move more?? I guess not. Every moment I have to make up my mind that I am going to eat less and move more. When I have a bad moment and eat something I shouldn't or eat too much then I immediately start over and regroup and say to myself "I'm starting again now".

Suppressing my inner fat chick is incredibly frustrating especially when you feel like you do the right things and still gain weight or are still wanting something you shouldn't have. Distraction or drinking water, well, that works if you have will power to do them. Most times I do, but sometimes I don't and I cave.

One of the things I do to keep myself from eating things is I ask myself, "is this worth the calories?" Most of the time it is not. So many things we eat are not even all that good. But we are eating them anyway to fulfill some need we have whether it is comfort or emotion or perceived hunger or we are in a social situation and everyone else is eating and we feel we should be too. So ask yourself, "is this worth the calories?" If the answer is no then shove the inner fat chick or dude and smother her or him.

My other technique is different. If I decide to eat something I shouldn't then I say to myself "Now you have to run three miles to work that off, is it worth it?" Sometimes it is worth it and I get out there and run to work it off. Other times I refuse to eat the dessert because I don't want to do the work to maintain my weight.

Here's the deal: EVERY DAY IS A STRUGGLE. I keep up with my weight so that it won't creep back on me and one fine day I wake up overweight again. If I'm a pound or two heavy one day then I make adjustments in my eating that day and hope tomorrow will be better weigh day. I used to be anti scale. Now I bought a scale a few months ago for this very reason. So weight won't creep back. So I have an idea every day how my day needs to be. Now if you are trying to lose weight, stay off the scale!! But if you are trying to maintain, I have found it to be a good tool. If you are trying to lose weight then the scale, I have found, will be a problem in that you will give up more easily if you don't see results you want. Muscle does weigh more than fat so as you lose and get more active you will build muscle so the scale is not your friend to lose. The scale is a friend to maintain.

I share these thoughts today for validation, for reality, and for strength for another day. I hope they have helped just one person. Share my blog and leave comments below. Thanks for reading! I love to know who is reading. I have no way to know who is reading unless you comment or like my page :) Have a fabulous day and eat less and move more today!