A Little Bit Of Reality

So I have been going over what I ate last week with a fine-tooth comb, and now I have a better grip on what set me off in the wrong direction... thank you very much Sandra for asking if I could be nibbling on a bit here and a bit there.  When I first read her comment, my initial reaction was to think that she was completely off base- that I was too controlled to have a bit here and a bit there without even realizing it.  Since my surgery I have been very controlled, and I usually don't allow myself to go down the wrong path when it comes to my eating (my 'snack' is typically 300 grams of tomatoes sprinkled with fleur de sel).   

    

But Sandra, you were 100% correct.  Just incorporating a few extra carbs and calories sprinkled throughout the day is EXACTLY what I did.  I didn't even notice what I was doing at the time because the nibbles were so small.  One day I had a piece of low-fat cheddar with some rice crackers, another day I had a pear or two or a mango that I typically wouldn't have eaten.  And let's not forget the handful of Cheerios I just needed to eat one afternoon.  How could these bits and pieces make a difference?  Pre-surgery a pint of ice cream would have been my binge, not a pear or a mango!  Because of this, I created some sort of revisionist history where those somewhat healthier calories just ceased to exist.. that was clearly not the case.  They existed, and my trusty digital scale (and Blogland, of course) called me out on this way before I would have typically noticed a problem. 

   

Now the obvious question is what triggered one of my old habits to rear its ugly head after almost 11 months in hiding.  The unfortunate answer is my BIL's visit.  His visit was terribly stressful on me, and I started comfort eating.  I know it is pretty pathetic that one man's visit could cause me this much stress, but it did.  First, he arrived not having planned anything for the week.  He hadn't even bothered purchasing a travel book on London.  I asked him what he planned to do, and he said he would do whatever we told him to do seeing that we live here.  Well, thanks for making me responsible for your trip!  Then, he sat here like a prince.  No help with cooking, dishes, no offer to take us out to dinner, nothing.  He just sat here for hours and hours doing NOTHING as I had 3 pots on the stove, chicken in the oven and a sink load of dishes piling up.  This is just the way he is, and I understand it, but it is very annoying to deal with for 8 consecutive days.  I coped with this by grabbing a bit here and a bit there- not good!

    

Excitingly, I am back on track.  I ate very well yesterday, focusing on fish and a bit of tomato.  I had a great workout- a 10 minute warm up, 20 minutes of squats and kettlebells and then 60 minutes on the Vario.  I also drank 5 liters of water.  Crazy I know, drinking a gallon of water in one day.  The bad news with all of this water consumption was that I could not sleep at all last night!  It took three hours (after tucking myself in) to get enough water out of me that I could even contemplate sleeping, so I laid in bed until 3am getting up every 30 minutes or so.  The good news is that I weighed 225.0 this morning- A NEW LOW- and only 0.4lbs away from triple digits.