Binge Week

Oh, my goodness! I thought giving in to my french fry craving would be the end of it. Not so, I'm sad to report! I have had quite a week of absolute binge eating. Sometimes I get so "snacky," as my dear friend, Beth, would say, that I just can't stand it and have to give in. Well, I've done NOTHING but give in this week.

Here is the good news, though. This morning, I was back to 170. Still not 169, but after all I've eaten this week, it's pretty remarkable to me.

As you know, I had the delicious french fries last Friday. Later that afternoon, I went to a happy hour, where I had nacho dip and chips, spinach dip and chips and mozzarella sticks. Now admittedly, I shared them all with Steve and our good friend, Jim, but still. Quite a snack fest. Then we went to a terrific fun card party at Jim and Don's house, where I had more snacks and a bowl of chili...with tiaramisu for dessert. I thought, "That will do it. One day of terrible eating. Back on track tomorrow." Not so!

Saturday, Steve and I went to see two movies. I DID take my own popcorn, so that helped. BUT then...we had to hit Hong's Buffet and Mongolian Grill for lunch. Spectacular food, but not great for you and NOT on Darren's nutrition plan! For dinner, we had Mexican food. Again, I thought, "That will do it. Two days of terrible eating. Back on track tomorrow." Not so!

Sunday, I was back on track for the most part. Steve and I get totally into the Oscars every year, so we made a delicious chicken crock pot recipe for dinner. Actually, quite healthy. I was feeling smug. I should have known better. After the delicious and healthy dinner, I was absolutely struck with the most overwhelming desire for cookie dough and cookies. I hesitated to tell Steve, because cookie dough is his absolute weakness. I didn't want him to think I was sabatoging his efforts. Finally, I couldn't resist any longer and I told him I wanted to make cookie dough. He was quite supportive of the idea. I went to the pantry, got a bag of double chocolate chunk cookie mix, added pecans and went to town. We did manage to bake about a dozen, but I think I probably ATE a dozen if you count the actual cookies and the dough. Once again, I thought, "That will do it. Three days of terrible eating. Back on track tomorrow." Not so!

Monday, I weighed in at 172.8 pounds, almost three pounds more than my Friday 170. Now, you'd think that remembering my Aunt Judy's mantra that it's a whole lot easier to take off five pounds than it is to take off 50, I'd be back on track. Not so!

The rest of the week I continued to snack like crazy. We made another batch of cookie dough and cookies (walnut chocolate chip this time), I had a McSkillet burrito from McDonald's (actually, I only ate about a fourth of it), greasy pizza from Sam's Club (which is actually delicious if you haven't tried it...and quite the bargain!) and half a blue cheese burger. I hit 175.0 as my high of the week. Oh, my. Not the direction I'm trying to head at all.

Well, I am proud to report that yesterday and today my snacking seems to have calmed down. I think I'm writing all this to say that even with all of the horrible eating, I didn't beat myself up about it. I continued to do my regular workouts at the gym, which I think really helped. Also, I realized that I was not going to make my goal weight by the end of February. I think that's part of why I was so out of control. Well, guess what? It's not really that big a deal to me. I'm going to sprint through March, or until I reach my goal. I know in my heart if I had diligently followed Darren's nutrition plan for the entire two months, I would be at my goal right now. BUT I enjoyed the HECK out of every bite of cookie dough! After all...who said the sprint had to be two months anyway??

Turns out ONE WEEK of terrible eating really did do it!