I bet you can guess what this entry is going to be all about! With the lovely holiday season and a vacation to Germany I got to experience my first backslide in 8 months. I don't know if I'd really consider it a true backslide, as I certainly didn't gain back all of the weight I dropped in 2015, but it was definitely the first time I FELT like I had gained all of the weight back.
First off, let me just say that my vacation was incredible. I had wonderful time and I have few regrets about the choices I made. There were a few days in there when I would eat so much (out of sheer excitement to try new things) that I was physically in pain. I'm not sure why my eyes were so much bigger than my stomach, but those moments definitely put a damper on my experience there. Totally a preventable thing that I had a hard time adjusting while there. In fact, I had a hard time adjusting back to my usual routine since I got back 2 weeks ago. It's only been the past couple of days that I've felt on top of it
again.
I know I'm a broken record about it, but I think the problem was that I was still eating candy every day. We brought back a bunch of chocolate and stroopwafels which have been hard to abstain from. Again, when temptations are in the house I have the hardest time NOT eating them. Yesterday I really drove it home by limiting my candy intake to one piece. Today I hope to abstain completely from sugar and give my body a few days free of candy and junk food. It's easier to do when I start by weaning myself off of it. In Germany, I ate candy and items with sugar multiple times a day.
hen I got home, I was still mindlessly snacking on candy. When I stepped on the scale and saw that I was over 155lbs, a red flag went up and I realized that this is exactly how I have backslid into weight gain before. It's thinking that there's such thing as a 'break' from a healthy lifestyle. There really isn't. If I were smarter, I would have stuck to my guns and just eaten less in general while on vacation. The quality of food isn't always as good as at home - and I deal with that a lot as a traveling musician. But that doesn't mean I have to OD on less than ideal options. Just eat less of them. Easier said than done. I know.
Another red flag for me was my mental state. For about 3 weeks now I have had horrible self-image. I see a fat person when I look in the mirror. I know that's not the case as my clothes, although getting snug with the added vacation chunk, still fit. Maybe muffin-topping a little more than before I left. But man oh man, I saw fat me looking back at me. Not because I physically got substantially larger, but because I was eating like my fatter self. That's how I got there - eating junky and making excuses. At one point last week I literally justified eating 3 stroopwafels in a row because I "didn't want them to go to waste". That is 100% old-me thinking. It was like being visited by the part of myself that made me most sad. The kind of person that thinks that my body is indestructible, will last forever, and impervious to illness. I don't like living with that mindset. It's not the kind of person I want to be. One day I could find out I have irreparably damaged my body because I didn't want to waste the stroopwafel... that I could have bought more of at any point if the previous package wasn't consumed fast enough. I mean, really. I have to have this level of battle with myself every day again until I get back into my routine.
I guess what I want to say is, if anyone reading this feels like it's too hard to do this... it's not. It's hard, yes. But not too hard. It's a real struggle getting into the right mindset - and the right mindset is subjective and personal. My mindset may not be the mindset of anyone else, and that's okay. It doesn't have to be anything in particular. But no matter what goals we put in place, they're going to be difficult to accomplish. That's why I am a huge advocate for using the "baby steps" mentality. Take one small step in the right direction. Throw out your salad dressings and try to eat salad with just oil/vinegar and some lemon juice, or give up soda and fruit juices entirely. It's a struggle, but the struggle is temporary.
ventually, I'll go back to eating one piece of chocolate a day at most. I won't even crave it. I'll crave fruit and a handful of mixed nuts. I'll go back to listening to my body and only feeding it when it asks to be fed.
Today is a new day. I did better and better each day since I got home, and I have the opportunity to try again right now.
As for New Years resolutions... I've resolved to take better care of my yard - and this Spring I plan to start a garden. Fingers crossed I can grow things!
I don't know about you, but I enjoy flattering angles when taking selfies. Reminds me of the days of MySpace. lol!
First off, let me just say that my vacation was incredible. I had wonderful time and I have few regrets about the choices I made. There were a few days in there when I would eat so much (out of sheer excitement to try new things) that I was physically in pain. I'm not sure why my eyes were so much bigger than my stomach, but those moments definitely put a damper on my experience there. Totally a preventable thing that I had a hard time adjusting while there. In fact, I had a hard time adjusting back to my usual routine since I got back 2 weeks ago. It's only been the past couple of days that I've felt on top of it
again.
I know I'm a broken record about it, but I think the problem was that I was still eating candy every day. We brought back a bunch of chocolate and stroopwafels which have been hard to abstain from. Again, when temptations are in the house I have the hardest time NOT eating them. Yesterday I really drove it home by limiting my candy intake to one piece. Today I hope to abstain completely from sugar and give my body a few days free of candy and junk food. It's easier to do when I start by weaning myself off of it. In Germany, I ate candy and items with sugar multiple times a day.
hen I got home, I was still mindlessly snacking on candy. When I stepped on the scale and saw that I was over 155lbs, a red flag went up and I realized that this is exactly how I have backslid into weight gain before. It's thinking that there's such thing as a 'break' from a healthy lifestyle. There really isn't. If I were smarter, I would have stuck to my guns and just eaten less in general while on vacation. The quality of food isn't always as good as at home - and I deal with that a lot as a traveling musician. But that doesn't mean I have to OD on less than ideal options. Just eat less of them. Easier said than done. I know.
Another red flag for me was my mental state. For about 3 weeks now I have had horrible self-image. I see a fat person when I look in the mirror. I know that's not the case as my clothes, although getting snug with the added vacation chunk, still fit. Maybe muffin-topping a little more than before I left. But man oh man, I saw fat me looking back at me. Not because I physically got substantially larger, but because I was eating like my fatter self. That's how I got there - eating junky and making excuses. At one point last week I literally justified eating 3 stroopwafels in a row because I "didn't want them to go to waste". That is 100% old-me thinking. It was like being visited by the part of myself that made me most sad. The kind of person that thinks that my body is indestructible, will last forever, and impervious to illness. I don't like living with that mindset. It's not the kind of person I want to be. One day I could find out I have irreparably damaged my body because I didn't want to waste the stroopwafel... that I could have bought more of at any point if the previous package wasn't consumed fast enough. I mean, really. I have to have this level of battle with myself every day again until I get back into my routine.
I guess what I want to say is, if anyone reading this feels like it's too hard to do this... it's not. It's hard, yes. But not too hard. It's a real struggle getting into the right mindset - and the right mindset is subjective and personal. My mindset may not be the mindset of anyone else, and that's okay. It doesn't have to be anything in particular. But no matter what goals we put in place, they're going to be difficult to accomplish. That's why I am a huge advocate for using the "baby steps" mentality. Take one small step in the right direction. Throw out your salad dressings and try to eat salad with just oil/vinegar and some lemon juice, or give up soda and fruit juices entirely. It's a struggle, but the struggle is temporary.
ventually, I'll go back to eating one piece of chocolate a day at most. I won't even crave it. I'll crave fruit and a handful of mixed nuts. I'll go back to listening to my body and only feeding it when it asks to be fed.
Today is a new day. I did better and better each day since I got home, and I have the opportunity to try again right now.
As for New Years resolutions... I've resolved to take better care of my yard - and this Spring I plan to start a garden. Fingers crossed I can grow things!
I don't know about you, but I enjoy flattering angles when taking selfies. Reminds me of the days of MySpace. lol!
Have a great weekend!