Rough Reentry - A Little Rant

Does anyone else have a hard time getting back into their groove after a vacation? Beside the fact that it was really nice going out to eat for every meal and having whatever titillated my little taste buds, and beside the fact that I returned to a house full of junk food because the first thing grandma did for the kiddies when Mike and I left was take them to the store to pick out whatever food they wanted, and beside the fact that I returned to a Northwest Fall in full swing complete with torrential downpour, I've caught a cold from my houseful of sickies.

Being sick is a major eating trigger for me. When I'm sick I feel that I deserve to eat whatever comfort food my brain can conjure. I can't blame the newest influx of junk food on my mom because last night when I went to the grocery store, both sick and hungry, you should have seen what I loaded into my cart. It was shameful, really: wasabi almonds, garlic and herb cheese with crackers, a bottle of wine, pizza rolls (for the kids, of course. Yeah, right.), frozen chimichangas (for the chiiiildren), and two cartons of ice cream (buy one get one free, what can ya do?)

Also, the antihistamines I'm taking have put me in a chemically induced state of depression. I'm behaving and feeling exactly how I felt at my most depressed, minus the crying jags and fits of rage. I'm staying in bed till nearly noon because I'm so tired and I can't figure out what to do with myself, and when I get up I stay in my pajamas all day and sit in front of the computer. The good news is that the six pounds I gained on vacation are gone. The bad news is that I suspect that is due to dehydration.

So, what do you all do to get back on track when either illness or vacation, or in my case, both, throws you off?

My New Temptation

I kinda wish I'd never tasted these. Once I open the can I can't stop. Seriously, I can eat a whole can of almonds. I'm not telling how many cans I ate in the week preceding the 3-Day.

Now that I no longer have the "preparing my body for a great big walk" excuse to eat everything in sight, I'll have to learn moderation with these or avoid them all together. I brought home a can today after shopping for new clothes, which was way fun today, by the way.

So, any tips for eating something so delicous and so small as to seem harmless? I'll tell ya one thing that helps, knowing there is 1,020 calories in one can! For now, I'm going to count out 28 nuts, which is one serving, which is 170 calories and put the can away. Avoiding it for the rest of the night will be tricky, though.

Costco Cookie Conundrum

This weekend was marked by one bad decision after another, and I'm still feeling hungover from the sugar I ate yesterday. Oh, it could be the Benedryl I took last night. I'll bet that's it. Anyway, I missed my big training walk after being up all night with a sick child, felt bad about that, had 3 glasses of wine Saturday night, woke up feeling like doing nothing. Big surprise, huh? Then I met my walking teammates for lunch on Sunday, had soup and salad and water. (Yay me! Trying to remember to give myself credit.)

After lunch I stopped at Costco for a few groceries. I was at the front, almost had gotten to the checkout line, and I TURNED AROUND and headed for the bakery section. I didn't even bother rationalizing the cookies I bought, instead I just told myself I WANT ONE. I did tell myself I'd only have one. Ha! I didn't even keep track of how many I ate. Then I had nachos for dinner. I didn't drink enough water for the rest of the day either.

So what went wrong? I missed my training walk and did have negative thoughts like I'm not going to be ready for this walk. Next week's training walk is going to be really hard now. My husband brought home beer, which always leads me to ask, "Did you bring me some wine?" Well, he had, but he left it out in the car. He was trying to cover his bases. Cheeky devil. Do you see why I didn't ask him to be my diet coach? Ha!

After drinking wine, I always feel sort of out of it the next day. It's almost like I'm mildly depressed again. I think it must deplete serotonin or something. That's my theory anyway. So, at Costco I was tired and sort of out of it, and that led to the cookie purchase. After eating one cookie I think I had some version of the well, now I might as well just blow the whole day negative thought process going on.

Here I am on Monday trying to get back on track. I need a way to deal with fatigue and stress that doesn't lead to eating or drinking alcohol. And today I need a way to get motivated and back on track.

Living and doing much better...Thanks.

I had a GREAT day. Took care of myself in these ways:

1. Haircut
2. Chiropractor
3. Ate well: Calories: 1593
4. Took vitamins
5. Had two servings of Udo's Oil (Omega 3-6-9)
6. Drank 8 glasses of water (plus plan to have 2 cups of herbal tea before bed)
7. Worked out at the Y, 35 min. on elliptical, 15 min. on treadmill, stretching
8. Faced the truth with a morning weigh in. (stop the denial and the over exaggerated emotional worry)
9. Visualized myself in summer attire, realizing that I have time to make a difference in what size suit I buy in June.
10. Reminded myself that I am at point B, not point A where it all began...I have walked a long road and have not been zapped back to the past by small indiscretions.
11. Put on a heart of gratitude for the body God has given me.
12. Had a "kick butt" attitude at the Y while working out, jamming to Hall and Oats on my Ipod, feeling pretty and fit and proud of myself.
13. I journalled. Everything.
14. I read Oliver Twist to my kids today and had a great home school time with all 5 of them. I felt like I connected with them all.
15. I read all of your post comments and took them to heart and felt the love and support of you dear ones.
16. I ate sushi. Yum.
17. I carried on and on and on, posting way too much on my blog.
18. And I plan on kissing my husband and all my children goodnight and soaking in their love. Really feeling it, not just going through the routine, for we don't know what tomorrow might bring us, do we? We must live today, unfettered by the past and unburdened by the future.

Love to you all.
Jules

I was forced to change to the new blogger!

Sorry, girls. It gave me no choice. If we don't like how this blogger works, I am considering opening a whole new blog somewhere else or creating a new web page that will let us have many more features. I just don't want to "lose" anyone in the process. I am trying to come up with a creative domain name for a website for me. It needs to be generic enough to cover my photography, my family, my weightloss, etc. My hubby likes www.juliesway.com I kind of like www.friendofjules.com or www.julesjourney.com do you have any ideas? Thanks. Jules