the ups and downs of the good life

Hey gang…

I hope you all had an amazing thanksgiving (if you’re in America!) And I hope you’re making the most of this holiday season.

I was supposed to be “off” for thanksgiving break, but as could be expected, vacation was spent being super busy, and bustling about in a holiday stupor. My MIL came in town on Wednesday and I’ve been go, go, go, ever since!

On Thursday, we went to my Grams house for thanksgiving dinner, which was absolutely delish. I had been looking forward to having a holiday meal in moderation, which I managed to do pretty well… (I enjoyed some turkey, potatoes, yams, green beans, cranberry sauce-which I lovingly prepared, and fruit salad) but I have to confess… that is when things went a little wrong.

Somehow, with company staying at our house, I went a little food crazy… and for pretty much every meal except thanksgiving dinner, I overate, and threw all caution to the wind. I haven’t eaten this badly in a LONG, LONG time. I might even say that I was binging for the past few days, and it has been a LONG time since my emotional eating was this out of control.

In the interest of full disclosure, lemme tell you about my crazy eats this week. :-/

• Wed. Dinner- Fuddruckers turkey burger with fries
• Thurs. Lunch- Thanksgiving food… and pie.
• Fri. Lunch- Urban Crust pizza with my mom (a fire baked pizza with chicken, mozzarella, sundried tomatoes, caramelized onions, and truffle oil)
• Fri. Dinner-Thai food including a thai tea, spring roll, lettuce wrap, and a coconut milk/chicken/yellow curry dish FOLLOWED by a spot of frozen yogurt @ yogurt story.
• Sat. Lunch- Chicken enchiladas (no cheese) and tomatillo sauce from Blue Goose Cantina
• Sat. Dinner- Chicken Express Chicken strips bonanza and a barrel of authentic southern sweet tea
• Sun. Lunch- A piece of fried fish and mac and cheese from a crappy fast food sea food place…

To top it all off, I didn’t lift ONE finger or foot, as I’d planned in an effort to counter those calories…

THIS was when I finally went, WOA. STOP.

I have to say, friends, that I definitely buckled under some of the stresses and emotions that crop up during the holiday season.

I felt overwhelmed, tired, stressed, and alone… even while surrounded by my wonderful family and friends

Have you ever had a tumble off the proverbial wagon, that made you think you couldn’t get back on?

I’m so glad that I’ve learned a few things over the past year. Things that make me encouraged, and not defeated.

1. I am not the product of one bad decision.

2. It is NEVER too late, or too hard, or not worth it to make one tiny little choice that puts you back on track. (I’m reminded every time I look at my wrist)

3. I have to be kind to myself. So, I made some poor choices, and I gave into some negative thoughts and feelings… but I can DO ANYTHING… I have to love myself, and support my self through the tough times too.

It is easy to love yourself and feel good when you’re doing everything right. It’s a lot tougher to love yourself, when you feel like you’re your own greatest obstacle.

I’m feeling a lot better, and have made a couple of committments to help me stay on track for the last month of the Holiday Challenge!

To start things off, I registered tonight for something special…

What better way to reclaim the promises I’ve made to myself than by starting training this week!! I’ve been looking forward to training for a couple of weeks, and I’m so excited that it starts this week! This should be awesome (and hard) but really rewarding.

Also, I’m going to count calories via Lose It! again for a while… (this is the iphone app which has recently launched a website too!)

(If you’re on loseit! add me as a friend! The email address that I use there is kelseytoney @ gmail.com)

Anyway, I think this blog post was long enough. I’ll talk to you guys tomorrow.