Our challenge is to get slim and fit prior to the holidays, which I think is totally brilliant. (Most of us have less need for bikini bods currently, but who wants to go into the holidays already feeling out of control? Makes for a pretty rude awakening New Years Day...)
MY problem is I'm not like oh shoot, Thanksgiving (i.e. temptation) is right around the corner, I better get my butt in gear. I experience temptation EVERY weekend currently. I'm a football fan. My boyfriend is an uber football fan. We spend our Sundays watching the NFL. We go to bars to watch our games! Beer, burgers, nachos...this is not exactly in the plan to shed some weight. So Sunday is all about my willpower, which I'm sad to say has not been great for a while now! That's partly why I'm doing this with y'all!
It can be SO hard to try and change habits and make lifestyle changes. Luckily, I'm new to a new city and I don't really know that many people here (sad, but fortunate I guess) to distract me and get me off my plan. But over the next month, I have family and friends visiting. Which is great! But, I'm supposed to say, there's this GREAT brewery down the street, I'll watch you drink? Or, let's go have a meal at this GREAT place...I'm going to get a salad, which is overpriced and not nearly as good as I could make at home. (Sad trombone.) Bleh, sorry friends, that's just not for me.
Here's the deal, I'm not going to NOT have a cocktail with my girlfriend when she visits! And I'm not always going to choose the salad when I'm watching football with my boyfriend. I guess what this challenge is about for me is figuring out how to balance healthy, whole eating with...some exceptions from time to time. I don't like the term "cheat." Especially since, I really enjoy a good burger. And I like a good beer from time to time too! I don't want to feel guilty when I indulge. That's counterproductive. Deprivation is not a good look for me.
What I do want to cultivate is the tendency to lean on healthier habits when I'm stressed or tired or sad...not ice cream (sorry, Ben and Jerry, we have to break up...) or whatever sounds like it's going to salve my soul in those moments. That is truly the culprit when I think about pounds I've put on recently or a decline in my healthy choices. So I'm going to enjoy the holidays...and football season...and friends in town, without feeling like I can't enjoy the dining and drinking that inevitably goes along with it. I'm just going to be very intentional about my choices, not go crazy overboard, own those choices, and keep working really hard the whole time. Instead of fixating on food or drink choices in some social situations, my focus is going to be steering myself away from "eating my feelings" and going on comfort food benders in between those occasions. Comfort food now and again is a delight! I'm not about to pretend it isn't! (That's just silly!) But over and over again, it obviously has a very negative impact on my well being, outlook and health. It's all about balance, right?
Here's my weekend confession: I had a beer. And I shared a pub pretzel with my bf. I'm still on track, I'm still working my butt off, and I'm happy.
What do you all think? Are you nervous about the pumpkin spice latte and mac and cheese breakdowns? How do you maintain balance in your lives?