C'est la Vie

 I had a lovely 3-day weekend. The weather was incredible for late February. Plus, I stayed completely on program the whole, entire weekend. I'm pretty happy with myself today. I mean, my weekend included lots of temptations. I had lunch at Red Lobster on Saturday with the fam and I ate a Caesar Salad (7.5pts- totally worth it to me- I L-O-V-E their salad), 1 (you read that right, 1) cheddar bay biscuit, because they're 4.5pts and while I love them, I didn't want to fill up on bread. I also ate 2 servings of shrimp scampi which, as it turns out, is only 5pts each. That may sound like a lot of points but I still had plenty left and it was well worth it. Plus, since fruit is now free on the new WW Points Plus program I snacked on grapes and apples during the morning. (Side Note: OMG. I just said I snacked on fruit. I am so a super model these days. ~tee hee~) Then on Sunday I had McDonald's for lunch and pizza for dinner. I realize this sounds like I'm making horrible choices, but the truth is I ate pretty healthy. I had a cheeseburger and a yogurt parfait from McD's, opting out of fries because they just weren't worth the points. Then I ate about 6 small squares of pizza (kind of like Cassano's Pizza, if you're familiar- mmmmm.....Cassano's!) Anyway, I totally stayed on track. Then yesterday, I met my wonder second mother (Christie) for Culver's. Now, you might think I was all out torturing myself and just begging for failure. Not true, kind friends. I looked up all of the points and planned my meal before I went. I had a single cheese burger and a small fry, which I shared with my baby girl, who is also a small fry. I just cracked myself up. I do that sometimes. But I digress. All in all, a weekend I am most proud of considering I faced some pretty tempting places.

 I want to document this for myself because it always happens that the first few weeks and months are the easiest. Starting a new program, losing weight a little more quickly, etc. But then you hit those pesky plateaus that cause you to consider giving up the fight. So, I want to remind myself of what just one week on the plan has done for me. I feel amazing. I'm sure it's all of those fruits with their body-loving, health benefits. I'm actually craving healthy food now. Last week, my back hurt. My lower back is always bothering me. But this week, it isn't. In just one week, eating healthier (and filling my belly just a little less) is making a huge difference. Not to mention, every time I look in the mirror I think, "you know, I'm kinda cute". Generally, I avoid mirrors. How about that for a reason to stay on track. Plus, I have so much energy. I really do think all of those horrible carbs and heavy foods and beverages drag you down. I feel so amazing. I usually feel so tired in the afternoons because I eat horrible lunches. Do you know how many times I've eaten a snack size bag of Combos and drank a Wild Cherry Pepsi. What, am I in college or something?? Geesh. Today, I packed a can of tuna, lettuce with salad dressing for a salad, and a bag of orange slices for lunch. I know, right! How healthy is that?? For breakfast I ate a grapefruit (I did! I'm such a super model) and drank coffee with just some FF vanilla creamer in it. I gave up sugar in my coffee. I also have lots of sparkling, flavored water in the fridge at work now. No more soda!

 I just read a WW success story about a woman you lost about what I'm looking to lose. I'm too embarrassed at this stage to go into those kind of intimate details, but what I liked is that she had a lot of weight to lose and set smaller goals along the way and rewarded herself at each one. Her reward for getting to her goal weight was to jump out of an airplane. It got me thinking about what I want my rewards to be. If I set smaller goals and give myself big rewards, I think maybe it'll really help me look at a smaller picture instead of the bigger and kind of scary/overwhelming picture. So, for my first small goal I am going to reward myself with the Rosetta Stone series for learning French. I've always wanted to learn French. I don't know about the in between goals yet, but for my final weight goal I am going to reward myself with a trip to Paris! I'm going to overcome that fear of flying and I'm going to Paris! And, by then, I'll speak the language. Maybe I'll even pick myself up a hunky Parisian man! C'est la vie! (See, I already know some French)