This week begins my sort-of summer break. Though I am not teaching over the summer, I will be working part time doing curriculum design. That's OK. The hours are flexible and there is no homework!
My first text message of summer was sent to Tracey at 6am Monday morning. It read:
Chocolate cake: 1, Me: 0. Mondays are our weigh days and we check in with one another once we have stepped on the scale. I lost nothing last week. I was not surprised because on Saturday I met for lunch with a group of friends that I have not seen in over a year. I made reasonable food choices with my actual lunch, but everyone was ordering dessert and I gave in to a piece of chocolate cake, a big piece of chocolate cake! It was good and I enjoyed it. Did I log it in SparkPeople? Nope! First of all I had no idea what the actual calorie count was. That is probably a good thing. Lol! I did not have any eater's regret.
When Tracey and I began our mindful eating journey together, we said that this was not a diet. Nothing was off limits. We simply wanted to be more conscientious with regard to what kinds of foods we eat and the number of calories we consume. Our goal is to make a lifestyle change, not just try "a diet" for awhile to quickly drop a few pounds, only to gain them back probably faster than we lost them.
My piece of chocolate cake day was the only day during the week that I exceeded my recommended calorie intake. That one day negated all that I had done the other six days of the week. That was an eye-opener, but it is all a matter of perspective.
As I tell my music theory students, a perfect fourth sounds dissonant when surrounded by thirds and sixths and consonant when surrounded by seconds and sevenths. Or, a photo taken at ISO 1600 may look grainy when compared to one taken at ISO 400, but may look great when compared to one taken at ISO 6400. Maintaining a steady weight feels pretty good when your goal is to not gain, but its a little disappointing when you are hoping to lose a few pounds.
Why is it that when I gain a pound I feel like a failure yet when I lose that same pound it feels like too little to make any kind of difference? This kind of thinking doesn't make any sense. If a pound gained is something to be upset about, then a pound lost is something to celebrate. Its that simple. Either it makes a difference both directions, or it doesn't. And maintaining a steady weight, whether ascending or descending digits on the scale, is ok. The good news is that once I reach my goal weight, I know that I can eat that piece of chocolate cake and all will be well!
Tracey found herself in this same situation over the weekend. She and her family went out for dinner. They had a Blizzard from Dairy Queen for dessert. Our advice to one another was if you are going to have it, enjoy it! It definitely isn't worth the calories if you don't enjoy what you are eating!
It is now a new week. We are both back on track. Content with the choices that we made over the weekend. Content with the message from the scale on Monday morning. Confident that we can continue from where we are and move forward, which is exactly what we are doing!
I don't foresee chocolate cake in my future this week, but you never know. Lol! My intention is to stick to the calorie guidelines that I know will help me to continue a downward trend. We'll check back in next week and let you know if we are moving again in the desired direction.
Until then...
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