Moments of pride

More often than not, my biggest moments of pride do not come from the numbers on the scale although I do *love* to see them drop. My biggest moments of pride usually stem from things like the emotional eating story from the other day. I had a similar moment of pride yesterday that I'd like to share.


It was our staff retreat and development day. This meant trekking an hour and a half or so up to our other location to spend all day in a small room with the entire division reviewing the year and planning for next year. Every time we do this, it means pastries and bagels for breakfast, cheesy saucy sandwiches with chips and soda for lunch, and then a mid afternoon snack of cookies and brownies (which were also provided with our lunch). I knew this was what I had to look forward to and simply refused to let it be a setback.


Instead, I searched online for someplace nearby that I could at least pick up a quick breakfast when I arrived. When that didn't work out, I didn't give up hope. I soon found a deli directly across the street that had not only healthy breakfast options, but a great looking salad bar, which meant I could go back for lunch too! I gave up free food and opted instead to spend my money on clean, healthy food.


The moment that I am most proud of though came to me through a brownie. The brownies that our dining services make are the one thing that I always love of theirs. They are really, *really* good and I'm a whore for brownies anyway. The girl sitting next to me had a big one. I walked to the table for coffee and there were a few broken off pieces. I thought to myself... "one of those little pieces wouldn't hurt..." but I knew better deep inside. I knew that the one little piece would make me crave more for the rest of the day and probably for several days after. So I took my coffee and walked away never to look back.

That night, I went out for dinner. I was a touch off my regulated eating (I had red meat which I've been asked to avoid for the first two weeks), but I ate a reasonable portion and had only a single drink. This has been the biggest adjustment for me. I am used to going out for dinner and/or drinks and having at least two, sometimes three in a night. Now, I am making a conscious effort not only to find lower calorie drink options, but also to limit myself to one of them in any given night.


While I am most proud of those personal victories, I will admit that I was also extremely pleased to see an approximately 8 pound loss on the scale this week. I know that losses like that will not continue after the first couple of weeks and that the majority is probably water weight, but at this point, pounds are pounds, and I'm glad to see them go. Results like that are very inspiring and motivate me to keep up the hard work that I've been putting in.


Looking forward to seeing the doctor again next Thursday to get updates on my bloodwork resutls and my new percentages!