Lessons I (Re)learned from 800 Extra Calories

May 22, 2019

It was just Mother’s Day and now Memorial Day is coming up.

Any holiday has the potential to derail our food plan so I usually take the opportunity to remind us all of the pit falls to watch for so we can have a successful (eating) day or weekend.

This Mother’s Day came and went without much of the usual advice from me about:

Focusing on connection with the people at your event instead of the food
Planning how to get through the family celebration without anyone getting hurt (physically or emotionally)

And it was to my detriment. Won’t be doing that again!

Whenever I’m talking to you, you betta believe I’m talking to myself at the exact same time. I’m in my 10^th year of maintaining a 50-pound weight loss, so staying conscious of my food choices is something I work on each day and week.

Many years ago, fueled by panic attacks whenever I was in charge of a party my mother was attending, my nuclear family and I started celebrating my Mother’s Day before the official one. It works out great! This way, I get to feel special and celebrated by my husband and kids, and my mother and mother-in-law could be adored resent-free at a Brunch we hosted.

My mother passed away over 4 years ago now and it’s remarkable how time smoothes out the memory of any rough edges. Incredibly and mercifully, I only remember the love, so I feel a pull for her especially on days like this.

I should’ve taken that into account when I was planning for the day, that and my improving but still present anxiety about hosting events. It’s soooo much better, but there’s a tinge still there.

Those sneaky and unacknowledged emotions fueled my “random” binge that night.

It was strange (that’s one clue to look deeper into what’s going on).

I’d had a great day—nice relaxed morning with my husband, a little rushing around to get ready for the Mother’s Day Lunch (which was designed to be delicious but very calorie friendly—one major advantage of hosting). Then a wonderful time with family. I even got a beautiful sunset hike in after all was cleaned up.

When I got back it was late-ish (post usual dinner time and close to bed time) and I was aware that I wasn’t hungry. But I watched myself get the tortilla chips out of the pantry and the dip from the fridge and sit right down next to my husband in front of the TV and eat. Chips and dip. 800 calories worth.

Huh!?

I’ve learned not to beat myself up over these mishaps, and I’ve also learned to evaluate them to see what I can look out for next time.

Here’s what I came up with:

REMEMBER NOT TO EAT WHEN I’M NOT HUNGRY

Yes. A basic. Still practicing.

REMEMBER NOT TO EAT LATE AT NIGHT RIGHT BEFORE BED

I had to take Zantac to prevent reflux and ended up with terrible sleep.

LOG FOOD AS I EAT IT OR AS CLOSE AS POSSIBLE

Logging at the end of the day robs me of one of the greatest benefits of logging: Knowing how many calories I have left and making decisions accordingly. This alone would have made a huge difference.

WATCH FOR VULNERABILITIES, THEY CAN LEAD TO ANXIETY EATING

This is where the unacknowledged feelings came in. Spending some time checking in with myself throughout the day would have helped.

With these lessons fresh in our minds, let’s look to this holiday weekend and make it the best it can be—both with conscious food choices and joy-filled connections.

Happy Start of Summer!

Lessons I (Re)learned from 800 Extra Calories

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