Occasions...

So, I've been at this for just over 1 1/2 months. While most days things plug along according to plan and routine, there are ALWAYS "occasions." Occasions are those lovely appointments, dates, gatherings, etc...that usually involve yummy, delicicous, no where near "on plan" foods. While the occasions themselves are usually great fun and hopefully are times we look forward to, they can definitely bring some stress along with them.

I've had a few occasions this past week, some planned and some not, that have thrown me for a bit of a curve but I'm actually pretty happy with how they all went - even if the scale shifted a bit in the wrong direction because of them.

Occasion #1 - Unexpected dinner with out of state family...
Now, one might first wonder how something unexpected could pop up with "out of state" family. You'd think if they were travelling out of state that I might have known they would be here. In this case, my aunt has been here for a few weeks and is actually leaving today. What I didn't realize is that she was leaving from Sacramento (where I live) and that her sister was coming up to see her off. This lead to an unexpected (but free) dinner out to Chinese. Now, eating out in general is usually tough. Even if you pick "healthy" choices, they are usually loaded with sodium and other additives that make your body react differently than if cooked and ate the same food at home. Well, my choices were middle of the road - not bad but not good - but I drank only water and did well with my portions. Overall, I had a FANTASTIC time with my family and was happy with my food performance. There was a teenie upward bump on the scale - nothing I'm worried about though.

Occasion #2 - Planned dinner out for my son's 11th birthday...
I knew this one was coming, got extra exercise in, very conservative with my calories early in the day, stayed on top of my water consumption. I reviewed the menu ahead of time so I would know what the "healthiest" options were and stuck to it. I brought my MiO and drank only water and DID NOT turn down the free scoop of vanilla ice cream at the end of the night!  Again - I had a really great time with my family and I was more than satisfied with my food performance. While I ended up over my calorie goal, I still had a deficit for the day so...I'm happy with it. This morning, there was a bigger gain (still less than a pound). BOO!

I hadn't prepared for Occasion #1 - hadn't exercised, drank all my water, or tracked my foods for four days prior and didn't plan ahead but nevertheless, the scale showed positive results. On the flip side, I did everything right for Occasion #2 but the scale showed negative results. My main take away from all this is:
1. The scale should not be our only or even the primary indicator of success. This is because not only does weight fluctuate daily but sometimes it takes time for the good or bad results to "show" in the numbers.
2. Fun occassions cannot be overshadowed by stress and worry about food performance and scale results. It just isn't worth it.

You've got to make your choices and be HAPPY with them regardless of what the scale says the next day. So long as you can do that, one off-plan meal will not turn into several off-plan days...you'll stick to your program and the scale will start showing the numbers you want to be seeing before you know it!

*Update on the numbers: I'm down 10lbs so far this month - even with my "occasion" results!