Sunday, November 29, 2009

Train Wreck! Beware of flying holiday debris!


OK, maybe that's a slight overstatement of this weekend's wreckage, but not much of an understatement.  Time to confess to my numerous transgressions:

  • Thanksgiving day:  Not terrible, actually.  Definitely had a big dinner.  Definitely enjoyed finger food.  A lot.  Went slightly berserk  on dessert.  This all being said, it was always my plan to let it go for these 3-4 hours, and I executed that plan masterfully.  
  • Friday after:  Ummm.  My parents were in town, so I was playing tour guide, which apparently included a variety of restaurants.  I tried to be reasonably non-insane with food choices, so I didn't have too much post-meal remorse.  Oh wait.  Almost forgot that I dove into a pre-dinner wine & cheese session with a bit too much gusto.  
  • Saturday after:  Getting nervous.  Again, I was pretty/very good for breakfast, and not awful for lunch.  Then dinner came, and again with the wine & cheese.  This was followed by Thai food.  Not just Thai food, but a lot of Thai food.  Definitely fell under the eating until I'm stuffed paradigm.  Blech.  
  • Sunday after:  OK, this is just gross.  Took my parents & family to a brunch buffet, and proceeded to wreck the place.  News alert... eggs benedict and sausages are not on plan.  Not even a little.  This was followed by a Christmas tree-lighting dinner buffet where more wreckage ensued.  Including a bountiful troll through the desert section.  
I write this feeling bloated, slightly grossed-out, and a tad embarrassed.  What if the National Enquirer had been there and taken photos?  

So what happened?  Very simply, I didn't have a plan for Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  I could have navigated all of those situations just fine and stayed in a normal eating pattern.  To be honest, I just kind of let it all go, and I did what I pleased.  

A secondary observation might be that buffets are inherently evil.  Everything on a nice buffet line looks fairly awesome, pretty and sparkly.  Truth be told, the food does not taste as awesome as it looks, and it's not nearly as rewarding as it should be.  I think this is particularly the case with buffet desserts which look like beautiful decadence at its apogee.  Yet somehow the pies and cakes are never nearly as spectacular as I think they will be while I'm contemplating eating them.  Buffets are perfectly designed for over-the-top consumption, and are able to bend the strongest will to their devious intent.  

Any silver lining?  Sure.  I exercised and moved around a lot each day, so that helps a little on calorie deficit and more on redeeming moral turpitude.  Kind of like a little positive healthy lifestyle karma to slightly offset a bounty of negative lifestyle karma.  

Perhaps a more important silver lining is that I know what to do next.  I will go back on plan tomorrow morning in a rational way, and I will track Monday through Friday.  This should course correct any sad habits that might otherwise try to creep in and embed themselves (like doing whatever I please in restaurants).  In the final balance, I will be just fine.  

I would ask you to wish me luck, but you should save that for someone who needs it more.  At this point, I know better, and I've got a pretty great tool kit to help me dig out.  Should any of you feel the same post-holiday remorse, please do join me in getting our respective trains back on the rails.  

dk

9 comments:

  1. I took the advice from your last blog because I had to...but I love how openly you admit your 'trangressions.' Thanks for sharing them because you made a point that I need to remember -- if I do most of the time, in the final balance I'll be fine..

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  2. Oh my gosh you are so not alone! And you are not alone making a vow to get back on track today. Im with ya! We can do it! Im sure there are hundreds more who are reading this blog feeling the same way. Thanks for putting it out there.

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  3. I've been a Lifetime Member at goal for 12 years, and this still describes my holiday weekend pretty closely. It's good to know that it's not just me. And it's probably good for everyone else to know that you can do this kind of thing and not completely lose it forever, if you GET BACK ON TRACK.

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  4. The great thing is that you can always get back on track! :) It's hard over the holidays especially with friends/family from out of town.

    I love eggs benedict, and you are right- they are not OP! lol

    This was a great post, nice to see even the CEO has some bumps in the road. :)

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  5. Misery loves company. I had a good Thanksgiving and then fell off the wagon over the weekend too!
    We just have to get right back on program-thanks for the post!

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  6. I am right there with you, and very thankful to have found this Blog! The beauty is that we CAN start over...more often than not I fail completely Nov-Dec because of the 'failure' mindset that we so easily get into. Not this time. :) Thank you for speaking so Candidly!!

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  7. Amazing!!! Not only do you speak so candidly but eloquently as well. I too am trying to regain my composure after this last weekend. It is so easy to fall off the wagon and takes many tries to get fully back on. Good Luck!

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  8. I love your honesty. You are so human, as we all are. Well, as I heard once, we either have a Losing week, or a Learning week. Looks like you learned. Which is clear from your post. We all need that from time to time, right?

    I also Learned. I was hoping for 3 days of major Activity to make up for Thanksgiving, but I fell ill on Friday and have not been able to exercise since (STILL feeling pretty punky). So I did not Lose. Wah. But I did learn. (um, don't count your activity points before they're hatched??)

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  9. I, too, slipped up a bit on Thanksgiving weekend. At least I only ate thin slices of all three pies instead of the usual three full pieces. Now that's quite an accomplishment!

    Thanks for reminding us that we're only human and do occasionally transgress. Getting back on the plan instead of giving up... that's what's important.

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