So far....no Halloween Candy!!

It is Oct. 30th and so far, not a single piece of Halloween candy has made its way across my lips. Considering how much I love chocolate, that is no small feat. A week ago hubby and I bought way too much candy for the Halloween party my kids are having tomorrow night, but it was put up along with the decorations and has not been opened and will not be opened until tomorrow. My parents bought each of the girls a bag of candy of their choice for Halloween and gave it to them on Tuesday, Jessica got York Peppermint Patties which I can easily stay away from since mint isn't my fav candy. Kayla got Kit Kats...yum. Still not my favorites but I do like the little boogers anyway. Both bags have been in the kitchen open since that evening, something I see every time I walk into the kitchen, but so far, haven't had any of it. Tomorrow night could be a different story. Way too much junk food is planned...pizza, chips, lots of candy, coffin full of gummy body parts, cookie cake with gummy severed feet and eyeballs, kitty litter cake, and a skull with rice krispy "brains" inside. The teens will love it, not so sure how my diet will enjoy it. I have weigh-in next week so while I would normally splurge on the occasion, I know I must watch my step very carefully as I don't want to post a gain. I love pizza, but considering how nutritionally horrible it can be, partaking of it right before weigh-in is probably not such a good idea. I may make myself a sweet dumpling squash and eat before the party starts...the more I think of it, thats probably a really good idea. It'll fill me up but yet is so low calorie that if I have a little dessert at the party, I'm still on track. Maybe I'll take some baby carrots to the party as well to nibble on instead of those darn chips that seem to call out to me. Hopefully all the activity of cooking and decorating and running around buying last minute stuff tomorrow will give me plenty of exercise to help as well. My oldest daughter and I have already planned a 5 mile walk for Saturday morning so that'll help too. Now we just have to make hubby and my youngest daughter get up to join us. Hope ya'll have a wonderful Halloween and remember, enjoy the Halloween treats but do so in moderation!

Avoid a Meltdown During the Holidays

I found an interesting article in my Mom's Weight Watchers Nov/Dec 2008 magazine(article by Gabrielle Gayagoy) about things that can trigger us to eat. It may be:
Guilt - This is your trigger if you are a person who tends to overeat at holiday parties & things,
then beat yourself up over it later
Sadness - this is your trigger if things haven't been going well for you or you recently lost a loved
one and all the holiday stuff only makes you feel worse
Anger - This is your trigger if you see red when you head home for the holidays...maybe you and
a loved one argue every year or family members tend to pry into your personal affairs and
set you off
Anxiety - This is your trigger if you are a person who can't say no and all the endless events
leave your life in chaos

Now, the cheat sheets for overcoming your triggers:
Guilt Cheat Sheet - whether you overate at a party or just ate too many goodies before bed,
start the next day back on track with a healthy menu full of fresh fruits and veggies and all
those other good things we already know we should be eating!

Sadness Cheat Sheet - Try a 10 minute fitness routine to get your endorphins going and help
ease your blues. Do each for one minute without a break: Walk in place, step from side to side
raising one arm overhead each time, walk in place swinging arms, do knee lifts and press both
arms overhead, walk in place pressing both arms overhead with each step, do squats, walk in
place raising one arm overhead each time, throw punches, walk in place swinging arms, stand
with feet hip width apart and raise arms out to sides and overhead as you exhale bringing
your arms down as you exhale.

Anger Cheat Sheet - Before you eat anything, ask yourself 4 questions: 1) Why do I want to eat
this? Am I hungry or is it because I'm mad? 2) If I don't eat this now, will I regreat not eating
it later? 3) If I do eat it, how will I feel later? 4) Is there a healthier option? Your answers
will help you figure out when you are eating because of anger rather than true hunger. If its
due to anger, have a list of things ready you can do instead of soothing yourself with food, such
as write Christmas cards, wrap some gifts, or call a friend to catch up.

Anxiety Cheat Sheet - Instead of launching into Cookie Monster mode when you are stressed,
calm down with some sort of meditation exercise. Or one of my favorite things to do it run a
warm bubble bath, grab a book and a glass of ice water and go relax for an hour or so.

I really liked the anger cheat sheet. I don't eat out of anger, but I am occasionally guilty of the refrigerator hover...that being standing at the frig with the door open just looking for "something" to eat but not knowing what I want. Most of the time it isn't because I'm hungry. I am hopeful that I can use this cheat to stop and ask myself these questions and then move away from the frig and on to something more constructive. Though I am at goal, I still have those mindless munching days when I later ask myself why the heck I did it. But then its on to the Guilt Cheat Sheet and back on track the next day, or the next meal dependent upon when I had the little "snafu". lol

Have a great night!

Maintenance - The "Right" Way or the "Wrong" Way?

Thus far, I have been at a weight maintenance level for 4 months. So far, it is going quite well. Am I doing it "right" or "wrong"...who the heck knows. I simply know that each month when I weigh in at Curves, I am within a pound or two of the same weight. Works for me! I had originally thought once I reached my goal, my weight would just stay around the same thing every day. In a perfect world, that might actually be the case. However, with me, that isn't the case. My weight during the month can fluctuate as much as 8 pounds or so....always staying within the 10 pounds "window" I set for myself, but still, the fluctuations up and down are there. This allows me the flexibility to go to cookouts and eat things I wouldn't have dared touch 6 months ago when I was still trying to lose weight, or to go to restaurants and splurge on dishes that aren't always the best, or to enjoy some after dinner dessert (in moderation). Most of the time I'm still pretty good...but then there are those days where you just want to eat everything but the sink or I indulge a little too much in the yummy goodies...then I see a higher number on the scale. But I don't freak out. I just make sure I work my butt off to get back to where I'm supposed to be by the 4th of each month so I won't post a gain at Curves. No big deal if at some point this month I was up 7 or 8 pounds...its that Curves weigh-in that matters. lol Is this the right way to be in maintenance? Some might say I'm doing it all wrong. Some might say whatever works for me. I say, it works, I'm staying on track, this allows me to be flexible and enjoy the goodies each month but STILL keep the mindset of not straying too much. I believe this is the plan for me, one that I can live the rest of my life with or never risk gaining all the weight back. It allows me to be "bad" when I want to, but after a day or two of that behavior, I am back on track and working on getting back to where I'm supposed to be. Granted some days I am a heck of a lot worse than I should be but thank GOD those days don't happen often. But when they do, I accept them for what they are, pull my skinny jeans up (boy I love saying that lol), give myself a "you know better" talk, and get back on track. I think that's all we can ask of ourselves in the long run.

Another Year Older

Today is my birthday,,,,35 years old. It has always been strange to me to hear how people have such emotional issues tied to getting another year older. Birthdays don't faze me in the least. I mean, seriously, today I am one day older than I was yesterday...this is the exact same thing that happens every day of every year, so why should the fact that I am now 35 instead of 34 mean anything. I can however, look at myself today and smile at the fact that I am now so much healthier than I was at 30 years old, heck, healthier than I was even at 25 years old. My weight maintenance continues on pretty much uneventfully. I had another weigh-in at Curves last week and maintained on both my weight and my inches. Now that certainly isn't to say that I didn't gain when I went away to the beach for the weekend or the trip to Nashville, but as I've said before, thats fine with me as long as I get back on track when I return home. Over the weekend I splurged with all the birthday celebrations, but again, thats acceptable to me now. Once today is over with, I'll be back on my game plan. It is nice to occasionally just order what I want off a restaurant menu without focusing strictly on what I "need" to eat rather than what I might "want" to eat. While I rarely ever go out to dinner with that mindset, I think it's important to occasionally do that and its something I haven't done. One thing I need to pay close attention to is my weekness over a pumpkin bread that I make. I baked 9 loaves yesterday and ate way too much of it. But it was the first time I've made it since I started my journey is Jan. 2007, so that's okay. Karyn shared with me on the comments about the Curves weight loss "mantra" which I'd never heard before. I guess I do something loosely similiar to that by watching the scale and staying within my range that I set for myself, but I might try the three pound thing. Have a wonderful Monday everyone!