Who AM I?

Today, I am almost unrecognizable to myself… because I am a woman on a mission. I’ve decided it’s finally time to stop giving into peer pressure, and time to start doing what is right for me. I’ve been frustrated with my weight gain over the last year or so, and I’ve come to realize that I exercise plenty… but eat incredibly poorly. I’ve been trying to fix this gradually, without making too many cutbacks, but that hasn’t worked so far. Time for me to buckle down and get her done!

Last night, I went to bed at 8:30pm. Sounds totally lame, but it’s something I should be doing every Sunday night, given that I have to wake up by 4:15am to shower and get to the airport for my flight to Dallas. So last night, I got a blissful 7.5 hours of sleep. Unheard of for me on a Sunday night, but it made my day so much better. I wasn’t nearly as tired when I got on my flight, and instead of wishing I could ditch work on the plane and just sleep instead, I got a lot done. Two gorgeous slides, coming right up!

When I landed at DFW, I had to wait about 30 minutes for my coworker to land, so I headed to the lounge. I was starving, but while the snack mix was tempting, I opted for some oatmeal with a small spoon of Nutella stirred in. This is why I love Delta – their lounge food is so fantastic! (Although the white chocolate caramel corn and Biscoff can be my downfalls). This morning, though, none of that – the oatmeal plus a cup of decaf made the perfect light “second breakfast” (5.5 hours after my first breakfast at 4:30am). By 9:30am Central Time, I was headed to the office and feeling pretty great.

So many dieters talk about being on track and then wanting to splurge as a reward, but for me, it’s the opposite – the more on track I am, the more I want to stay on track and keep the healthy habits going. (It’s the reason I crave things like salads after I run a marathon). Fortunately, the off-site conferences with their crazy amounts of food don’t start until Wednesday this week, so I have two days to get on a good path before being tempted. For lunch, I chose a grilled chicken breast wrap with spicy mustard – I was so excited to have that option instead of barbecue / fried chicken / nachos / all the other stuff we’ve had lately! Eating well is so much easier without all those temptations in front of me, not to mention when I’m following my own work schedule instead of sitting in meetings taking notes from 8am-6pm straight and only then getting to start my work for the day.

But at 3pm, temptation struck: birthday cupcakes. These were pretty large, elaborate affairs – massive chocolate cupcakes with a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup baked into the center, and peanut butter/butter cream frosting on top, plus crushed Reese’s PB Cups on top. While they looked decadent and delicious, though, I had a secret weapon – I’m not really a huge chocolate or peanut butter fan (though had they been chocolate Nutella, that would have been another story). Instead of the cupcake, I had a small square of dark chocolate that I keep in my laptop bag, so I still got to enjoy a treat without totally blowing it.

You’d think that would be the end, but there was one more test in my day: post-work drinks at a beer bar. Having been so good all day, and desperately wanting to lift weights when I got home, the choice was surprisingly easy: seltzer with lime (I know, as I said at the beginning of this post, who am I drinking seltzer at a beer bar???). I knew I wouldn’t be able to lift if I was tipsy, and for once, the thought of beer was just not appealing at all. When it came to food, I found a colleague to get a ride back to the hotel with (instead of having bar food for dinner), and then got a yummy grilled shrimp salad when I got back to the hotel (after my workout, of course). All this healthy eating seemed to pay off, too – I don’t know if it was my attitude or what, but my weight lifting workout tonight was pretty darn awesome. I did three sets of 10 single leg deadlifts with a 50lb dumbbell! Not to mention upping the weight for my lat pulldowns, cable rows, bicep curls, and shoulder presses. RED LETTER DAY.

Now, can I keep it up tomorrow? Unfortunately, one day of clean eating isn’t going to make a difference in the extra pounds I’d like to lose, so I need to make sure this turns into a habit instead of an anomaly to be proud of. One more day of freedom, and then I’m back to the all-day conferences, where I have a lot less control about my food choices. Do we think a habit can be built in two days? I suppose I’ll find out.