Daily Victories and Challenges

I am starting to find that each day brings a new victory or challenge into my life.  Many of my daily victories lately have been from someone telling me they can see that I've lost weight or feeling more comfortable in my clothes!  I feel like the hard work of changing my eating habits and putting in the exercise are really starting to pay off!  I'm hoping to continue seeing my hard work show in the reactions of other people and in the way I feel about myself!

I do find it challenging that some days I struggle to stick to my calorie intake.  I sometimes end up over-indulging or not making the best choices when I want to go out to eat with my friends.  I don't want to hold back on life just because I feel like I might not make the perfect choice, so I call these times my "cheat day" or "cheat meal."  Sometimes I feel guilty when I allow myself to over-indulge, but I know that I will do better the next day!

This week, we threw a baby shower for Leslie (a girl I work with).  

There was lots of yummy food brought in to share with everyone, and it all looked amazing!  

I decided not to count each calorie because I wanted to try everything and it would have been difficult to calculate how much of each thing I had.  Instead, I just had a little bit of about everything and stopped eating when I felt full!  I counted this as a cheat day and didn't even try to track my caloric intake, but I did my best to make sure I didn't over-indulge too much!

Last night, I went out to dinner and felt very good when I left!  I ordered my dinner wisely (grilled salmon, white cheddar mashed potatoes, and fresh steamed brocolli) using my calorie tracker, but then found myself trying some of the appetizer dish (a yummy shrimp fondue dip) and a bit of the most delicious mac & cheese! So instead of just chalking that all up to cheat meal, I decided to let my body tell me when to stop!  I ended up only eating the brocolli and about a third of my salmon, still staying in my calorie allowance!  I was so proud of how well I let my body tell me to do the smart thing!

I really like the changes I'm starting to see, both physically and in the way I'm dealing with food!  I plan to keep going to where I want to be, and I hope I can stick with it!!!

~Emily