What I learned this week that will help after I reach my goa

I feel happy that I maintained this week. I didn't lose, but I didn't gain, either. Normally, I am not thrilled when I don't lose, but this week is different. Why? Read on!

I weighed at my usual time on Saturday morning last week. Then on Satruday night I went out to a restaurant with my partner and had a half a 9" pizza, a half a caesar salad, 2 beers (one normal, one reduced calories), and a half a very rich piece of carrot cake! (Before I started on this program I would have had a whole pizza, a whole caesar salad and a whole piece of carrot cake, so this was a big change! I was just a little over my daily calorie allotment.)

The next night was the Super Bowl and, well, my diet was deliberately put aside that night! Wow, were my BBQ ribs great! And that yummy potato salad, and the rice crispie desert in the shape of a football was sinfully good, not to mention the sparking wine! OK, you get the picture.

So on Monday norming (and this was all pre-planned!) I said to myself, "OK let's weigh and see what I've gained." I had gained 3 pounds. I calmly said to myself (and this is where I differed from how I usually behave): "OK let's get right back on track and see, if you return to your calories and exercise (and eating some of the exercise calories), how long it will take to get back to the weight you were last Saturday!!"

I waited a couple of days and then weighed again! Amazing! I had lost 2 of the pounds already! I kept my exercise going, watched what I ate like a hawk, and guess what? This morning on my Saturday weighin I had lost the remaining pound and was back again where I was last Saturday. To me, this is a success story. In the past I would have allowed these two indulgences to derail my eating program and would hav efelt like a failure.

I have taken stock of this...I now know what I have to do, once I have reached my goal weight, in order to keep the weight off. I will never again be able to NOT think about the consequences of eating like I did this week, and if I want to indulge, as I did those 2 nights, then I have to really plan for that both before and for many days after! So I am learning! And that makes me happy!

I wrote this up because this might be a help to some of you who consciously decide to thow your diet out the window some night, just for a night. That week you may not lose, but that gain can be worked with creatively, and you don't have to be down on yourself.

"Back on track" is the phrase I kept saying to myself on that Monday morning after the Super Bowl, and it worked!

Have a great week!