You Take the Good, You Take the Bad...

Monday's are my weigh-in day. Nobody makes me do it. But I like to see the progress that I'm making so I do it once a week.

While I'm always fearful, for the last nine weeks the scale has been my friend not my enemy...until today. I am glad to report that I DID NOT gain any weight last week. However, I DID NOT lose any weight either.

To be honest, I'm not surprised. While, I wouldn't say I had a bad week last week...I didn't have a great week either. Until my routine was interrupted, I didn't realize how much I've come to rely on it to keep me motivated and on track. But for the last two weeks, my life and schedule have been turned upside down and I still have one more week of craziness to go with this week being VBS at church.

As you all know, Ryan had surgery almost two weeks ago and then a couple of days later my parent's came into town. My routine wasn't too badly messed up and I stuck to exercising and eating healthy while they were there. My parent's, who don't need to lose any weight, have also committed to a healthier lifestyle so it wasn't hard when they were around.

Ryan's parent's surprised us on the night of the 4th of July. I ate out twice while they were here. I made good choices but probably still had more calories than I would have if I had eaten at home. They left last Thursday morning and I went to a baby shower that evening for a girl in my Sunday school class. I ate one small cookie and that was it. It was at a frozen yogurt place but I decided to be good and not eat any. I hadn't had supper though so by the time I got home I was starving but too lazy to fix myself something nutritious to eat...mistake! I ended up eating way too many Cheez-It's even though they were the whole grain kind.

The rest of the weekend was so-so. At some meals I ate great at other's not so great. I indulged at snack-time on Saturday with a bit too many chips and homemade salsa...sigh. Why do I love "Mexican" food so much?! And on Sunday we had Buffalo's for lunch since my husband didn't want to go home and eat a sandwich like I had planned. I seriously wanted something unhealthy. Maybe it was because I had already made not so great choices earlier in the week but I settled on the Buffalito's which is sort of like a taco but with grilled chicken and buffalo sauce. While I'm sure it was better than the fried wings and french fries I'm also sure it was chock full of unnecessary calories.

Last night was the first night of VBS and Abigail and I ended up heading out before having supper. So we were starving by the end of the night. We swung by Wendy's. I try to stay away from fast food but it was convenient last night. I did get the grilled chicken sandwich but ate a few fries off Ryan's meal. Normally, I wouldn't feel guilty about a few fries because it's my policy not to make food's off-limit because as soon as I do, it calls to me, beckons me in the same way I'm sure a drink calls to an alcoholic. But I'd already allowed myself a few too many indulgences last week so I felt guilty once I ate them.

But here's the thing about the new me...I'm not using my not so great last couple of weeks as an excuse to fall back into my old habits. I started out fresh this morning. No more missing meals and over-indulging this week. Part of my problem was that I skipped breakfast several times last week. So I had my cereal this morning and started my day off right. This week will be challenging with all the snack foods around during VBS but just because it's there doesn't mean you have to eat it. I may find myself shoving my sweater in my mouth like I did when we took Abigail too see Car's Sunday before last. Movie popcorn is terrible for you but I wanted it...BAD! Being half funny and half serious, I looked over at my dad who was sharing the popcorn with Abigail and shoved my sweater that I brought along into my mouth! In essence, saying, "my mouth's full of sweater so I can't eat any popcorn." He of course thought it was hilarious! :) But hey, whatever works!

Even though I didn't lose this week, I am beyond thankful that I didn't gain either! I am so glad that I stuck to my exercise routine!

I'm not perfect and I definitely don't have this new healthy lifestyle all figured out. I'm sure there will be more bumps and bruises along the way before I achieve my final goal, whatever that may be, but you can rest assured, I'll brush myself off when I fall down and I'll keep plugging along.

Peace, Love, and Healthy Living,

Jessica