Sunday, May 2, 2010

Day 9: Luke 20:40

The latest, but probably the most continuous battle I face and will face in this weight loss journey is temptation. The verse is Jesus saying, "Pray that you will not be overcome by temptation." That my friends, has been my prayer. I am currently down 8 pounds since I started the 500 calorie phase (hand clap to myself), but I know that achievement could float away as easily as a balloon in a child's hand, something that could be gone in an instant and almost impossible to see again. I am a huge fan of the reality show, The Biggest Loser. I've watched almost every season because I love the motivational and inspirational message that it gives. The one-time heavily obese contestants have every reason to be proud of themselves for being able to showcase in front of America their newly transformed bodies it healthy because of weeks of hard work and dedication, but I think I'm even prouder of myself for NOT having what the Biggest Loser offers. They are in a controlled environment where their food, exercise and behavior is controlled. I, however, am not. Every day, I face the temptations of fragrant cinnamon rolls that I can tell just by the smell has sugary icy glaze on top, crispy, soft in the center (like I like them) french fries, ice cream in every kind of man made flavor (which I told y'all is my favorite) ; not to mention, the tempting advertisements running every 10 minutes of just about every fast food and family restaurant chain put out by their money hungry marketing departments. This past week, I would say I did very well trying to resist temptation compared to my behavior in the past with other diet regimes. There was hardly a cheat on a meal and if there was, it was an extra strawberry or two or an extra piece of Melba Toast which were usually following a workout. And then... There was friday night!! Cue the "DUN DUN DUN!" I think I made the mistake of going out to dinner too early with friends because my resistance wasn't as strong as I would have liked it to be. Although, sooner or later I was going to have to know how to say no. Some of my friends and I went to one of my favorite wing places in Montgomery called Baumhower's. I am in LOVE with their gooey fries topped with melted blanco cheese and real bacon with ranch dressing. No, I didn't get the gooey fries. I got the chargrilled chicken salad with balsamic vinegarette while my friends got wings and philly cheesesteaks and cheeseburgers and.. don't forget the fried pickles. I was proud of my choice. The problem is, I wasn't suppose to eat the whole thing and I did just to keep my mind off all the tempting things around me. Also, I must confess I had 2 drinks that night with friends, but I was able to make a smart choice of simply have vodka and water with fresh squeezed lemons and limes to avoid the sugar loaded bar mixes and the sodas with high fructose corn syrup. Just so you know, I am usually a margarita kind of girl. Oh yea... it's definitely loaded with a lot of sugar. Should I have splurged like I did Friday night? Probably not, BUT I believe with every negative should come a positive. That's why I can safely say I did, however, make smart, healthy choices when I gave myself a brief break as oppose to shopping spree splurging and getting crazy with what I put in my mouth. That showed on the scale when I didn't gain any weight from my weekend.

Now, you may be thinking to yourself, "Hey. Crazy, this is all a little obsessive!" simply dealing with food, but until you've walked in the shows of someone who has been overweight practically their entire life, you will have no idea how hard it is to say no to things you've always said yes to and how it makes you feel. I have to come to realization though that these are my surroundings. I'm an not guarded by a 15 person camera crew, 50 acre ranch, and my own personal 24 hour gym. No, I am surrounded by everyday life and that makes the success even sweeter. Now, I am recharged for a new week with new weight loss. My dedication is still there and nothing is holding me back. I heard an awesome saying the other day from my keeper of inspiration sayings, A VH1 reality show... but it's so true. "Sometimes, you have to do things you've never done before to get things you never had." That's what I plan to do and that story is for another blog.