set backs are unaviodable

Things were moving along so great.  I was exercising on a regular schedule.  My eating was on track.  The weight was falling off.  Then it happened.  I had the dreaded set back. 

It all started innocently enough.  My kids and I flew off to Chicago to visit my brother-in-law.  It was meant to be a fun filled extra long weekend with lots of sights and some sampling of Chicago's best foods.  The trip was very fun but I used it as an excuse to eat everything the city had to offer.  Deep dish pizza, caramel popcorn (from Garrett Popcorn aka heaven on earth), cheesburgers from the Billy Goat (but no fries...chips), pounded chicken that was breaded and served with a twice baked potato the size of my head, my brother-in-law's lasagna and Bobtail ice cream plus were on my list of cuisine.  Just typing this makes my mouth water.

Things may have been ok if I had just gotten right back on track when I came home. Instead I kept sampling.  And sampling.  And even did a little more sampling.  To make it worse my exercise routine was interrupted by knee issuses and schedule conflicts.  I was spiraling.  The time had come to set back the set back.

I started by weighing.  Trust me when I say that was the last thing I wanted to do but I had to know what I was dealing with.  There was a 3 pound difference and it was not to my advantage.  Next I decided on a plan to get through the week until I weighed in again.  I planned every meal and snack for each day and stuck with them.  This is not unlike what I do on other days but I cut out the sampling and made myself enjoy healthier foods.  Sometimes it is a matter of making myself enjoy the things that are good for me and thinking about all of the positive results from eating those foods.  This may sound ridiculious but many times when I eat I visualize the good things it is doing for my body--inside and out.  This encourages me to stick to those foods and stay away from the ones I visualize doing bad things to me. 

The exercise portion of my plan was more difficult.  Between a full time job, my son's football schedule, my daughter's piano, housework, homework and everything in between, I had to work to schedule some me time.  However, I did manage to do just that and hit the gym on days I was not hitting the pavement.  Sometimes I just walked around at work tightening my abs over and over again. 

The focus and determination paid off.  The extra weight came off and so did 3 more pounds.  The best part of it all was finding a way out of my spiral for myself.  I saw what had to be done and I did it.  It just keeps reinforcing the fact that I can make a change and make it my lifestyle.  I have said it before and I will say it again, if I can do it--anyone can.