Lessons Learned

I learned some new lessons yesterday. The first lesson was a reminder that this diet isn't a diet in the traditional sense. For while it may indeed have a beginning, it does NOT have an ending. I am not shooting for a magic number on a scale and then proclaiming "The diet is OVER!" This journey really must be treated as a permanent lifestyle change.

Yesterday was a good example, because I had a couple of surprises thrown at me. I was feeling a bit guilty about blowing it the night before, so I was pretty cautious with my calories for breakfast and lunch. On Monday nights, we eat dinner out while the girls are in dance class. I ended up eating a bit more than I wanted, but it all seemed OK. What I had forgotten to account for was that we were celebrating a birthday that night, and my sweet hubby was supplying the chocolate cake and ice cream. Feeling like I had already blown it, I served everyone cake and ice cream, including myself. I didn't want to be deprived. I just want to live like everyone else. I cut myself a very tiny portion of cake and a small dollop of ice cream. I only ate a few bites, until I felt satisfied. I was thinking I had blown it, but then when I went back again and calculated my total daily intake; I was still under 1500 calories. I was pleasantly surprised. The lesson I learned here was that you don't have to go through life skipping out on all the occasional indulgences. You just need to control your portion size! On a diet, it is typical to think you have to miss out on all the holidays and goodies. I am now realizing that you don't! Since I am eating the way I hope to eat FOREVER, I don't want to cut out the special occasions, and now I realize, I don't have to.

The second lesson I learned last night was how careful you have to be after you make a mistake or blow it. Sure enough, my sick hubby retired to bed early again, leaving me up to watch TV and wind down for the night by myself. I began to feel real hunger in my stomach and for a brief moment entertained the idea of eating more (yeah, that's right, after eating chocolate cake and ice cream). It only took me a second to realize that this was spurred by the bad mistake I had made the night before. A good habit can be totally destroyed in one effort, but a bad habit takes weeks to overcome. Once I realized where this temptation came from, I squashed it away in the back of my head and appreciated the fact that I would be going to bed a little hungry that night..........and that all my dreams for being thin and healthy were still intact.