Fare at the Fair

Our family went to our summer fair yesterday. We managed to last for 8 hours--pretty great for a 4yr old and 1yr old. We had so much fun. The fair itself was enjoyable, but the most extraordinary part was being together as a family. With Bean working 55+ hours a week, our time together as a family of 4 is quite limited.

If there is one thing a Fair is known for, besides toothless carney's and rickety rides, it's FRIED FOOD! They fry everything there. And it all smells and looks SO good. Normally would I be interested in fried avocado? I don't think I would. But at the fair, it just calls to me. (don't worry, I didn't answer)

For someone who is trying to maintain weight loss or lose more, a fair full of fried food is nothing but a danger zone. I knew I would definately want to enjoy some of the fair food, but I didn't want to overdo it.

We found out we could bring a cooler into the fair and check it for free at Guest Services. We could also bring in sealed bottles of water. Not only did this save us money, but it saved me some calories!

I determined ahead of time to only eat something if I was genuninely hungry. No eating just for the sake of eating. And I wanted to be sure to think about what I was eating not just mindlessly putting food in my mouth.

I was very successful in not overeating. In fact, the only food item I ate on my own was a cinnamon roll. I had a taste or a few bites of a few other things, but I didn't over do it.

Although my brain was telling me to eat dinner at home later that night, I felt very full, so I resisted the temptation to eat out of habit.

These are the examples I hope to set for my children. We can enjoy special treats at special times. But we don't need to overdo it just because it's there.

I said No!!

Just wanted to share a little personal accomplishment I made today in the food area.

I have observed that I tend to eat a lot out of habit or desiring a certain taste--but I'm not actually hungry, or I know that I've eaten plenty of calories and don't need more

But it's still hard to say no and resist. Especially treats!

Today was a good day though! I knew we'd be eating a not so healthy lunch--so I restricted myself to a banana and Fiber One bar for breakfast. I didn't get a donut or coffee drink (we have an actual coffee shop) at church like I sometimes do. I did drink a Diet Coke at 10am...but the caffeine is the same as if I'd had coffee--right?

Round Table pizza and Cold Stone Ice Cream Cake for lunch (Bean's choices for Father's Day!). I kept it to 2 pieces of pizza--and blotted the grease of course. And only 1/2 slice of the cake. I did have some german chocolate cake later in the day at a friend's house.

I wasn't too hungry for dinner, so I just had 1 more piece of pizza. And although the TASTE of more ice cream cake sounded good, I legitmately wasn't hungry and in fact felt like it might make me feel sick. So I actually said NO and didn't eat anything else for the night.

Although I'm still trying to lose a few more pounds, I'm also paying close attention to how I can maintain. Today was a good lesson that I CAN do it!

The good and the not so good

Why is it that it's so hard to stay consistent in eating from week to week. At least it is for me. I am trying to so hard to lose these last few pounds. I'm doing well with exercising. But can't stay consistent with eating.

Yesterday I ended up eating 500 calories more than I should have. I was just hungry. And mad at the never-changing scale. So I ate a few cupcakes, some candy and bites of ice cream. And a full-fat starbucks drink (usually I get non-fat).

Today I was doing okay...until dinner time. All the rain and cold air caught up with our household and we just wanted to bake. Enter homemade spice cake with frosting. YUM. I ate way too much. Now I feel a little sick to my stomach.

Was it really necessary to overeat the cake? Why did I need to eat extra frosting from the bowl? Wouldn't I have been satisfied with one average slice on a plate? Of course I would have. But I have FOOD ISSUES!

I go back and forth between wanting to be really restrictive on my eating--especially in order to lose the last pounds (seriously...it's less than 10 and I've lost so much already, it should not be this difficult); or lose a little slower--maybe more healthy--and eat a few more calories. I think one of my downfalls is those "few more calories." They turn into too many.

This week has ended up not so good. And the rain that's pounding the roof (um, hello san diego, it's MAY not winter!) is not boding well for the early morning hike I had planned. At least I did a 60min workout today. It's times like these I wish I had a gym membership. But I don't need the bill!!

The price you pay

So last Saturday I had some major overindulgence to sweets--my weakness anyways. I hadn't eaten a good lunch and was at a function with tons of homemade goodies. I went way overboard, and I knew it.

I've been weighing myself almost every day just to observe the flucuations, try to see how my body works etc. I went up several pounds after that incident (even though the rest of the week was pretty good and I exercised too). It took me a WHOLE WEEK to get down the weight I was the morning of the overeating. For someone losing weight--that's just ridiculous.

I really learned my lesson with that. If I was just maintaining--it wouldn't have been so bad. But I lost a whole week. It was a good lesson for me, but a costly one.

Now that I'm just a few pounds away from my goal, I'm getting a bit concerned with maintaining. I only stayed at my lowest for several months after losing the weight from baby #1. I ended up staying several pounds more than I wanted to be. I don't want to do that this time. I want to be able to wear ALL my clothes, comfortably!

So beware weight-losers...that day of binge eating costs more than you think!