In the Holiday Groove...and Two Year Goal-iversary!

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Thanksgiving was wonderful and I'm glad it's past. I'm really happy with how the past week has gone. I'll start with exercise, since that's been a huge part of what's kept me focused. I think a quick list is the best way to go. I'll start with the day before Thanksgiving...

Wednesday: 3 mile run (including the big hill) and weight lifting legs/shoulders/core
Thursday: rest
Friday: 25 minutes upright bike, weight lifting back/biceps/core

Saturday I went on a monster hike. It was only 4 miles but a lot of those were spent on serious uphill. The terrain was a bit rocky too, which added to the amount of "work" I was doing.

Sunday: rest
Monday: 3 mile run...wait for it, at 9:23 pace!, oh yeah!! I didn't run the hill though, because my calves were sore from the hike. I hope to run it this coming Thursday. After the run I did weight lifting chest/triceps/core.

So that's exercise...food-wise it's been an interesting week. Somewhat feast and famine. Well, not famine of course because I don't do that but more feast and clean eating.

Thursday I ate with abandon. I gave myself unmitigated freedom to eat and drink without expectation. I was mindful though. For example, at breakfast I had oatmeal, fruit and two hard-boiled egg whites. I considered adding sugar and cream to my oatmeal (because that's how I like it) but skipped it to balance out the later eating. At lunch I ate traditional Thanksgiving food with all the trimmings...and then the same at dinner except to add alcohol.

One good thing is my appetite. I can't physically eat as much as I could in my previous life so even if I go "all out" on the eating, I can only take that so far without inducing a painfully full feeling, which I don't like. But I never really stopped eating...meal, graze, meal, graze... I'm sure I managed to eat a ton of calories. For tracking I just wiped out the days' Points plus all my weeklies and called it close enough.

Friday morning came and I reminded myself of my Holiday plan. Eat whatever/how much I want on the day of the holiday, get right back to routine the day/s after. I also had a feeling of wanting to eat clean. I could feel my body processing all the food and drink from the day before. 

Yesterday's lunch - black beans and 1/4 avocado

Things cruised along like that all weekend, clean eating, feeling good. After work yesterday though we took the kids to get a Christmas tree, which meant home for dinner later than usual. I was starving and made the kids a quick grilled cheese sandwich for dinner. I ended up eating half of one of theirs while I cooked myself a different meal. Man are they Pointy! And then, after dinner, the leftover pumpkin pie and whipped cream in the fridge got my attention.

So I had my first T-day leftovers, a slice of pie with whipped cream. I was mindful while eating it, enjoying every bite, and made a plan to put the rest down the disposal when I was done. Yesterday was four days after the holiday and there's no reason to keep leftovers any longer. Oh, and earlier in the evening I'd happened upon an open bag of Cheetos Puffs my mom had brought over. I had two of those and quickly dumped the rest before I lost my resolve. Oh, and I had a pumpkin bar the kids had baked last week too. So yesterday was a high Point day (52), pretty much wiping out all the hiking Points I'd earned and leaving me two points in the red for the week. But I'll earn four at the gym today so I'll be fine.

The kids with our tree

So the holidays are in full swing. Like I said, we got a tree. Did some decorating last night but still more to go. Getting the tree put an excitement in the air for the kids. Now just to keep up with the clean eating even with all the treats around. I got on the scale this morning to see if my weight confirmed what I knew, that I'd been eating and exercising enough to lose weight. I saw 145.8 - super happy to see that 145 number again. I'm very close to being back at my goal weight, which feels great! I'm so super, happy, thrilled, glad, relieved, etc that I got things under control before the holidays even began.

Oh, that reminds me! I completely forgot that my goal-iversary passed. On November 9th, 2012 I reached my goal weight of 145 pounds. It had taken me 5 years, 8 months and 25 days to get there. Just another reason I'm happy to be back on track. Noting the anniversary at a time when I am working hard to be a maintainer felt great!

Well, that's all I have for now. I hope you're feeling back in the swing after Thanksgiving. In case you're still struggling, let me remind you, it feels really good to be on track. Start now, start with your next meal, and before long, you'll remember why you feel so much better when you're living in a way that aligns with your goals.