Life is like peanut butter and chocolate spread!

Another holiday at the in-laws is fast approaching, which means food, food and more food.  My mother-in-law is a fantastic cook.  When I first met my wife, I weighed 170lbs.  When we got married a year and half later, I weighed  206 pounds!  I have joked with my mother-in-law that she is to blame for my gaining those 36 pounds.  Of course, we both know that I just ate too much of a good thing.  To this day, it is still challenging to limit my portions of her delicious home cooked food when there is enough on the table to feed an army.

However, since Running Without a Watch, I began this holiday feeling more confident in my ability to set healthy limits and leave the table feeling satisfied instead of overstuffed.  So here are the honest ups and downs, course by course. 

During the first meal, I ate two and half bowls of vegetable soup which was probably too much.  But here comes the success.  While I absolutely love soup, and love dipping bread into my soup even more, I only ate one piece of bread total!  Then I ate a little too much pasta, because I forgot to use a smaller plate.  But for the grand finale… I only ate a tiny ice cream bar and a piece of cake for dessert.  The last time my mother-in-law served these ice cream bars, I ate six of them!  This time, I ate only one.  Even when she offered me the last one, I stayed true to myself and said no.  This was a huge success, and it felt so good.

We slept over, and during the following day I ate a good lunch, serving myself small portions, and leaving the table before I began to overeat.  This brings us to another round of dessert, and where my troubles began.  I finished one piece of cake when suddenly my oldest son requested crackers with chocolate spread and peanut butter, a treat he often enjoys with my in-laws.  Of course, being the good dad that I am, I made him a perfect sandwich with equal amounts of chocolate and peanut butter oozing out of the sides.  It looked so good; I just had to make one for myself.  Next thing you know, I downed eight crackers with chocolate spread.

One step forward, two steps back.  But you know what was different this time, I recovered quickly!  When we got home that night, instead of feeling down about it, I went out for a run.   The next day when I weighed myself, the scale did not reflect my overindulgence from the day before, which points to the value of checking your weight every week instead of every day.   The bottom line is that if you lose control, it is ok.  It happens.  The important thing is to move forward quickly.  Get back out there for your workout as soon as possible.   It may be tough or difficult to complete, but once it is over, the feeling of accomplishment will be there.