After  this weekend I feel like losing 10% of my body weight is doable.  It just takes a little strategy planning. 

Friday night I had a movie date for a friend’s b-day that involved “going out after”

 Saturday I had a boozy baby shower (don’t judge) followed by another friend’s football/b-day celebration

 Sunday was a “me” day.

 I am amazed with myself, I showed up to each event, indulged and still managed to shed about 2 lbs over the weekend!  I’m not humble bragging either – I just want to inspire those who feel like losing weight means giving up everything you love to eat and staying home with a bunch of celery and carrots every weekend.  So - here's my insight on what worked for me, maybe it will work for you too.

 I have a fitbit and have been doing weekly challenges with other dietbetters and that keeps me inspired to get 10k steps a day – and then some!!!   I also started logging my food on the fitbit site and got rid of My Fitness Pal (less apps to deal with).

 Friday, I made it a priority to go on a long walk at lunch since I'd be sitting down for 3 hours that night at the Hobbit.  Walked to my friends to meet them to go to the movie instead of taking the bus (she’s a couple of miles).  I had a cider and soft pretzel at the movie followed by 2 margaritas after.  No candy, no buttered popcorn – just an idea of what I wanted to track that day to keep me within my calories.

 Saturday DAY, I made sure to wake up early enough to get some steps in before the shower.  Got a big cup of iced black coffee before the shower so I’d have something low cal to sip on for a bit instead of going straight to the wine J  I got to the wine eventually – but only had one glass.  I couldn’t plan the food, so I had a healthy snack before leaving and picked mostly veggies (and ranch!) to eat because I had a b-day to get to later.  I’ve been trying to plan all 3 meals, but that’s not sustainable so I allow myself a little ambiguity for sanity’s sake.

 Saturday NIGHT, again – walked to my friends instead of taking the bus.  Packed my own salad and a 4 pack of ciders (instead of a six pack of beers) for the football game.  I had ONE slice of pizza with my own salad on the side and when I went out after – I nursed the same beer all night and burned some calories on the dance floor and walked uphill home.  My favorite is waking up on Sunday with 600 steps already accounted for for the night before’s activities J

 Sunday was easy because I had no social obligations.  But I seriously feared this weekend negating all of my progress that I’ve been making since the 1st.  I know it’s easier in the beginning to lose.  That goes without saying – but if I keep this mindset, fingers crossed any other social engagements that are chock full of temptations – I look back to last weekend and think about how planning and being strategic in other parts of the day make it so you can have pizza and beer (in moderation) and still lose weight.