I know it is not easy but on most holidays, I lose weight. This Thanksgiving, I couldn’t weigh in because I was out of town. My plan was the following: Eat protein and veggies Rest well at night Pre-track Thanksgiving meal Exercise 3 days, including a 5K on Thanksgiving Day Track everything I eat The week went well and it was pretty laid back.
We spent a lot of time with family. I bought a salad during the first full day we visited family. It was nice to have salad just to add to my goal of eating lots of veggies. When we visit my husband’s hometown, we love to eat Mexican food. It’s kind of a tradition we look forward to. This year I decided to order a salmon salad instead of my usual shrimp quesadilla. I ate a few chips and queso. I was proud of my decision to make a change and go for something I know would work with my plan.
One thing I learned the hard way is that if I eat well, I feel well. I can’t tell you how many times I “treat myself” just to get an awful stomach ache. I experimented with eating lean meats and veggies during one trip. I felt amazing the entire time. I enjoy trying new foods but if they are going to cause me to get sick, I’ll pass.
Thanksgiving day was fun. I drove in the rain to run a 5K. I wrote and recorded a podcast about the race here. Runners were treated to donuts at the end of the race. I decided not to eat it because I’m not a donut person. What I really wish I could eat was a great breakfast taco. I went home and ate some peanut butter on the drive back.
When it was time to eat Thanksgiving dinner, we were all starving. I kept up with my plan and modified it a bit. I had seconds and I planned on skipping dessert until someone showed up with turtle brownies. It was a huge pan too. I love chocolate. So I ate a little bit of it. Then, I found Nutella. I kept telling myself not to eat it but by the time we came home, I threw it away.
We packed snacks for the trip and my MIL gave us fresh fruit for the trip back, which was very kind. We officially outgrew the gifts of candy we used to get from everyone (I think, thanks to me). I used the WW app to calculate fast food points. A chicken sandwich at Wendy’s is fewer points than a McDonald’s one. I often eat salads the few times we go to fast food. I was happy to change a bit and eat the sandwich. I only ate one bun.
I watched a friend who is pretty low carb do that so I decided to follow suit. When we came back home, we had both my husband's birthday and a Christmas celebration back to back. I ate a salmon dish with veggies on his birthday. Everyone had gourmet cupcakes. I found the littlest spoon we own and ate a bite of his. It was good!
I was super tired on Wednesday but I knew I had to prep my menu for the rest of the week. I went to the store and found out they were having a sale on squash. I bought three times, baked them all and prepped my food for the week. My activity goal for the week was to exercise 5 times. I was happy to get back to that schedule.
My weigh-in day is Saturday. I honestly was not excited about weighing in because although I followed through with my post-holiday plan, I didn’t want to face the scale. I weighed in on Tuesday, and I saw I was up. I weighed in Saturday morning and I noticed I was in a much different spot than Tuesday. I decided to go any way. When I stepped on the scale, I was up 0.2 pounds. I was so happy!
The receptionist was so encouraging and she reminded me that with everything that I had going on, that was basically maintenance. I was so happy! I was encouraged because Thanksgiving week was difficult. The day after, I wasn’t feeling my best so I had to lay low.
Coming back we had a lot of festivities which was so great. The end of the week was very stressful. I used all my tools. The weekly topic was about finding balance through exercise. I did use exercise as a buffer for stress. It worked. One day, when I was restless and uneasy, I went for a walk. It was very helpful. I didn’t want to feel stressed. The fact was, there was no escaping those feelings. I used every tool available to me and thank God, things are much better. I know this is a very long story but here is the summary. If you want to bounce back after the holidays:
• Come up with a specific plan
• Follow through with the plan
• Adjust your approach as needed
• Remember that each small step counts
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