A Weekend of Progress

Well, the weekend could have gotten better, but it could have gone a whole lot worse, too.

Sunday went fairly well: I stuck to my game plan of packing up desserts to eat later, and I left the reunion feeling good -- not overstuffed with food. I overate some later that night, but I knew by enacting my plan I kept the overall intake of food for the day a lot less than other years.

Monday wasn't so good. As I feared, I fell into the overeating habit that is so common at our get-togethers. I compare it to being at a bar with a bunch of friends who are all drinking beer and having a great time. Without really thinking about it you fall into their pace of drinking (eating), and before you know it you're drunk (stuffed). But I'm not beating myself up about this; I overate a lot, but I didn't wake up that morning with any urges to binge, and I didn't feel any underlying feelings behind it -- stress, anger, anxiety, etc. It was more recreational than emotional.

This morning I tried really hard to look closer at it to see if there were ANY other causes to this overeating. All I could come up with was being tired from a long, hectic weekend, and that tiredness affected my strength to keep up my IE principles. I worked hard at being mindful Friday, Saturday and Sunday despite so many difficult situations, and by Monday I guess I was worn out and wasn't able to maintain it.

I did do something I was proud of. I broached the subject of including more non-food activities into our get-togethers, and it was received in a positive way. My father in law even dug out his volleyball/badminton set, and a few of us, including my daughter and I, played badminton for a while. I plan to keep encouraging this, and hopefully by the end of the summer we'll spend less time at the food trough and more time doing fun things. And even if I can't get everybody away from their plates, if I can at least pry myself away and give my daughter more memories than her mom stuffing herself at every picnic, then I'll have accomplished my goals.

While I'm trying not to feel guilty about yesterday's eating, I did wake up bloated and with an upset stomach. I haven't eaten breakfast yet, but not because I think I need to fast or diet to compensate for yesterday. I wasn't hungry at all, so I decided to honor that and wait until my body tells me it needs to eat again. There's no point in eating breakfast if I'm not hungry, right? I brought some food along to work in case that happens, so I won't be forced to chew on something that isn't appealing.

So, in retrospect, while I wasn't able to follow the IE principles on Monday, I'm pleased that the majority of the weekend did go well, which means there is progress. On Sunday I wore my smallest pair of shorts (a "regular" -- not plus -- size 16!) and they fit, so while I still haven't been weighing, I could tell by the fit of my clothes that I'm staying pretty stable with my weight, whatever that is right now! I'm not sure those shorts would fit this morning, but I know that this bloat will dissipate in the next few days as I return to eating normally and exercising regularly.

I hope everyone else's holiday weekend went well. I have to admit I'm glad it's over, however!