As I was leaving Athens (Ohio) last night, my mind was racing, alternating between mentally flogging myself and writing a furious blog entry lamenting my sins.
Having slept on it though, I realized that I wasn't being fair. So I messed up at dinner, that happens. It isn't the end of my journey.
Let's back up a step. Last night Liz and I drove down to Athens to meet her parents for dinner at Casa Nuevo, a fun Mexican joint which specializes in using locally sourced ingredients and has a fair amount of vegan friendly options. We had to wait for our table, so we ordered a plate of Nachos... "that's ok, I'll only have a few." Then we got to our table and ordered some appetizers and some chips and salsa. This is where I ran into trouble. CN's salsas are of local renown, I had to sample them. And suddenly I had forgotten what I was working towards and was just enjoying myself and the "good" food. Then I ordered an enchillada for my main course, and did remember myself enough to order one with broccoli, mushrooms, and black beans instead of the pulled pork or steak. But all in all I probebly had the second highest calorie and fat meal that I've had in 7 solid weeks.
I'm not going to stay under 350 this way!! 2 days Off Plan in a 3 day window? Right after a 14 day stretch of On Plan days??
But you know what, I've decided not to get all depressed and start a downward spiral. Another weight loss blogger was complaining about having hit a batch of bad days, feeling like she wasn't going to get on plan. From reading her entry I learned two things. 1) the importance of posting about setbacks and not just positive results, and 2) that vacations happen, and its how we deal with them the next day that really matters. As soon as she started focusing on the future rather than regretting the past, she was back on track.
I can't afford to move to Hawaii and spend every day sitting on the beach drinking cocktails. But that doesn't mean that I shouldn't take a vacation now and then. And instead of worrying about all the work I'm not doing, I'm going to just relax and enjoy my vacation, knowing that the real world is waiting for me when I get back.
The same is true with Off Plan days. I can't afford to make them the norm, I can't afford to do them very often, and I certainly can't afford to waste them feeling guilty and angry at myself for slipping up.
So here's the plan. Vacations will be as rare as I can make them, they will be reported to the blog, but they will not derail me completely. And in the long run, I will get to my goal.
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2 comments:
And you know what? If you go out for a special treat, and then end up either:
a. Beating yourself up for enjoying the treat because it wasn't entirely on plan
or
b. Sitting there lamenting the fact that you just can't eat ANY of the things that you'd really enjoy
Then you completely invalidate the treat. It's only worth "vacations" as you call it if you can allow yourself to enjoy the small liberties you take while you're on them.
And I can say, as the person who has eaten out with you more than anyone else, that you were very good Tuesday night. You made smart choices on the items that you ordered, and stopped eating when you were full. You really didn't eat many chips - and none "just because." And you really would have felt deprived if you hadn't sampled the salsas.
The trick is learning to have and enjoy a treat every once in a while, without either beating yourself up with guilt, or deciding it's no big deal and can happen every day.
I'm very proud of you!
This Liz women is smart, that must be why you married her. You're just starting this journey, your self-awareness will be ever increasing and you will be dumb-founded by what you discover. Learning isn't always fun and easy, don't beat yourself up. You are doing great.
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