Days 11-14 

Fail. Fail. Fail. Fail.

Let me qualify. On Thursday, I had a wicked stomach episode that left me nauseated and listless. Nothing sounded good. My stomach was a burbling mess. So, what did I do on Friday?

I ate a double Quarter Pounder with cheese, fries and a coke from McDonalds. Naturally.

That’s “Fail # 1”

Later that night, I had two beers with shrimp and grits at Nolen’s Place.  I figured the day was shot anyway, so I splurged.

That’s “Fail #2”

I had every intention of getting back on track on Saturday until…..I threw out my back trying to clean the potty with a Clorox wipe. Typical.

So newly sedentary Hallie rode out the pain wave with carbs. Lots and lots of carbs. Pretzels, crackers, Ramen noodles, pizza, another double cheeseburger, and a coconut cream pie milkshake.

We’ll call that the “Mother of all Fails.” 

And therefore on weigh day, I weigh 197 pounds. Still less than where I started, but a whopping 5 pounds heavier than last week. Sigh.

But I’m determined to learn from this. I’ve noticed another tendency about food. When an unexpected event occurs (illness, injury, etc) I will fall off the wagon so hard that I leave a dent in the road. Why is this? Does food become a coping mechanism? Do I become too complacent to keep up my healthy eating routine? Does the business of cooking and meal planning become to much when faced with pain and discomfort? Yes, yes and yes.

So now that I’ve identified another pitfall, how do I combat it?

1)      I need to keep an “emergency plan” along with the associated foods in the house in case grocery shopping or cooking falls by the wayside. Frozen Atkins meals? Low carb bars? Cheese? Nuts? A faithful recipe that I can make at any time?

2)      I need to remind myself that feeling run down is even more of a reason to eat healthfully.

3)      I need to identify those moments of weakness and fill them with other things. Rest, mostly.

 

Off to a fresh start this week!