I know I am tardy in updating my blog and you all have just been DYING to get the scoop (yeah right)! The fact is, I had a rough week and was really down on myself. The last thing I wanted to do was come here and tell you all what a failure I was. I probably would have gotten out of my funk a lot quicker had I just gotten on the blog, written about my short-comings for the week and been encouraged by all of your sweet comments! But no, I sat in my fog and avoided the blog like the swine flu!
It all began with a trip to the Happiest Place on Earth. The drive down I-5 on Friday proved to be the beginning of a difficult task at hand. What to eat on the road? The problem with the Jenny Craig food is that, with the exception of the muffins and cereal for breakfast, all of the meals need to be microwaved! And since I don't have a microwave in my car, (nor are there microwaves accessible at Disneyland), this presented a problem with what to eat. I HAD to eat out. As we drove down the flat, boring highway, I feverishly thumbed through my dining out guide and- believe it or not- decided I could handle a stop through the golden arches. I ordered a hamburger and yogurt parfait and we were on our way. I snacked on some carrots and sunflower seeds for the rest of the drive and felt OK.
It all began with a trip to the Happiest Place on Earth. The drive down I-5 on Friday proved to be the beginning of a difficult task at hand. What to eat on the road? The problem with the Jenny Craig food is that, with the exception of the muffins and cereal for breakfast, all of the meals need to be microwaved! And since I don't have a microwave in my car, (nor are there microwaves accessible at Disneyland), this presented a problem with what to eat. I HAD to eat out. As we drove down the flat, boring highway, I feverishly thumbed through my dining out guide and- believe it or not- decided I could handle a stop through the golden arches. I ordered a hamburger and yogurt parfait and we were on our way. I snacked on some carrots and sunflower seeds for the rest of the drive and felt OK.
The next day we got up and had a continental breakfast at our hotel (I had a bowl of Raisin Bran) and headed into the park. At lunch, I had a grilled chicken caesar salad with the most processed, rubbery chicken I have ever seen. I had a churro (ummm, and finished Kaylie's- so let's call that one and a half churros), spent something like $10 on a Mickey Mouse shaped container of vegetables with Ranch dip and a bowl of grapes and had pasta for dinner.
Sunday it got even more difficult to stay on track. I never did have a soda (victory!), but clearly was not drinking enough water and was getting dehydrated. I had a yogurt parfait for breakfast and a mocha and had a chocolate covered banana for snack/lunch. We met outside of the park with friends for dinner at the ESPN Zone and I split a caesar salad and BBQ chicken pizza for dinner. I ate WAY more than necessary and my stomach hurt. But here's the kicker- after dinner, I suggested ice cream for dessert and we stumbled over to Haagen Dazs. I had a scoop of chocolate ice cream in a waffle cone. Bummer! And I got really down on myself....
The next day was Monday, we got up, indulged AGAIN in Starbucks and got on our way. I sat in the car on the long, boring, flat highway and beat myself up over the bad choices I made. I came home and was hungry and ate way too much for dinner (decided not to start back with the program until Tuesday) and went to bed again feeling sick.
The week ahead was a stressful one as it was my last week of school which means TONS of last minute projects to do and loose ends to tie up and with my over-indulgent weekend still on my mind, I became a bit frantic. I tried to stick with the program, but found myself hungry all the time. I felt discouraged and for the first time thought maybe this wasn't do-able. I felt like I had gained all of the weight back. I was depressed and over-tired.
I stepped on the scale on Thursday and found that I had gained 2 lbs. Looking back, that's really not all that bad, but when I saw the numbers go up, instead of down, I was totally bummed- although not surprised. I spoke with Nicole (my totally wonderful and adorable JC consultant) and she talked some severe sense into me. She was so encouraging and motivating and I got off the phone with a new bounce in my step. She helped me to understand that my hunger was probably a result of my body "hungering" for the nutritious foods it had become accustomed to. All of those empty calories had me "starving" in a way. She also told me that I was not failing, just had some challenges and they were now HISTORY! No need to dwell upon them. I felt energized after our phone call, went on a walk (in which I ran for 3 minutes straight) and have been going strong ever since. Today is Sunday, and although I am not supposed to weigh myself again until Thursday, I did get on the scale and found myself down 2.5 lbs.
I am ready for a new week ahead and am so thankful for those "down" moments when I gain new insight and learn valuable lessons. Plus, they are usually followed by "up" moments, which make it all worth while. :)
