moderation

Yesterday was a very sane eating day, even though there was plenty of potential otherwise. I feel really good about my willpower. All in all, I burned about 400 calories and didn't eat about 500 calories -- Without all this willpower, I would have been nearly 1,000 calories over budget!

* I went to the gym and did spin, even though I was tired and seriously did not want to be there. I picked the wrong bike and was kicking myself the whole time. But I finished and I did some core work, although I skipped the arm/back workout. Some days it's enough to just get through the cardio.

* I did some major shopping Saturday and at the grocery store, I decided that I should try my old trick of everything in moderation.

I bought diet coke (I so want to quit it!) but I bought the small 8 oz cans instead of the large ones. I plan to slowly start weaning myself off of them.

And I bought a pint of chocolage fudge ice cream. But here's the catch. I'm only allowing myself to eat 1/4 cup a day. That serving is about 130 calories, about equal to the fake sugar diet ice cream. In the last few years one of the things I've learned is that fake sugar just enduses more sugar cravings. I buy skinny cow ice cream bars and before you know it, I've eaten three or four of them. But the real stuff, like tbe Ben & Jerry's I bought, really hits the spot. I'm also planning and using this as motivation for bypassing the breakroom goodies. Here's my mantra -- "this looks good, but chocolate fudge icecream at home is so much better."


* I bypassed a calorie-rich fest at a party Saturday. There was lots of alcohol and lots of goodies and snacks and treats. But the thing was, I didn't really feel like drinking. I didn't trust myself to hold in all the crazy sad emotions I've been feeling and I really just wanted to have fun. And I only had one cookie, which surprised myself because I was near the food table the whole time. I had a healthy meal and a 1/4 cup of ice cream (see above) before I went and I just wasn't hungry. More than anything, I was thirsty and had about four glasses of water. (Total savings = 2 glasses beer, 2 cookies, handful chex mix, etc = 500 calories).