Searching for the Saddle...

...so I can get back in it. These past few days have been real corkers, haven't they?

I'm having a little difficulty turning the wine spigot off.

I went for a loooong walk yesterday in the bright sunshine and then scooted home to finish my various freelance projects.

It doesn't feel like enough though, given my numerous indulgences over the past few days.

I get weighed again a week from today.

I do not want to see any gain.

What that means is that I have to get right back on the job ... now, today, this very instant. No more extra bites, no more quick nibbles.

Over the past year or so I've gotten much better at shifting back into weight loss mode after a loose couple of days. But lately I fear maybe I've gotten a little too free and easy about things. It's one thing not to stress, another to relax restrictions to the point of self-defeat, as we all know.

If I were to try and pinpoint one thing that has helped me stay on track in the past, I'd say it's the knowledge of looming weigh-ins. Right now I'm thinking about what will come next Monday, when I haul myself up and force myself to go into the nutritionist's office and hold myself accountable for what I've eaten over the past two weeks.

What matters now is not what I ate last week -- that ship has sailed.
What matters is what I eat this week.

Here's to getting back on track!

Last week I enumerated my holiday plans, which included using my small plates, eating slowly, etc. I did do a lot of that, but didn't work out as much as I'd wanted because of the migraine and general malaise. Adding things up in my head, I see days when I ate a lot of food I don't normally eat. Not a huge pie, thank goodness. But still...extra food. Calories galore in the form of sushi, a sandwich or two, an almond croissant Friday morning, and more stuff I'm forgetting but I know I chomped down the ol' gullet.

It's one thing to not work out a lot during a week when you are also really counting calories. But reduced gym visits plus extra eating generally equals big-time scale problem for me.

I know what I have to do. When I visit Whole Foods later today to buy the week's groceries there will be no treats from the vegan dessert section.

I can do it. I can resist them. It's just food, and it'll be there next week when I go back.

Did I mention I also have future food/drink events that I must carefully pick my way around?

Dinner out at a Mexican place Wednesday, then two parties the following week.

If we were all dieting super-heroes, then I would pick vigilance as my super power. I'd be Vigilance-Girl (that sounds really close to vigilante girl, doesn't it?).

For the rest of this week (and holiday season, if need be), I'm going to envision myself as a secret super-hero with a really cool cape hidden under my clothes. And I'm going to have one of those invisible force fields or shield thingies to pull around me whenever I get into a sticky situation.

"Vigilance-Girl force field, ACTIVATE!"

Maybe if I imagine myself surrounded by a force field of vigilance, I can be vigilant in my behaviors at all these parties.

Let's give it a try, shall we?