Contrary to what many of my friends thought, January 1st was a great day to start my new diet and exercise regimen. My boyfriend and I woke up late, had the day to ourselves and could focus on kicking things off properly. We made a list of food to buy, prepared healthy and leisurely meals and did our first workout together.
I got a few days to get used to the new routine at home while I was off from work, and then had to go off to SF for the week. That was a bit more daunting, since as I'm sure most of you know, it's almost impossible to stay on a diet during a business trip for three reasons:
- Conference room cookies
- Business dinners & drinks
- Break room goodies
Our office is particularly challenging, since it's a small company and the break room is constantly stocked with yummy snacks. One of the guys brought home chocolate from Germany which was left out on a plate for the whole world to see and smell (which made me feel a bit like Ulysses as he sailed by the Sirens – without the physical restraint of being tied to the mast), there were all kinds of great cookies and crackers, and Wednesday is bagel day.
But fear not sports fans, my will prevailed and I bypassed the tin of wasabi peas (which are just awesome, btw), and reached for a pear instead. Actually, I need to take a moment here and talk about the pears. I had never heard of them before, but apparently there's such a thing as a "fragrant pear" which I'm told is available in Asian markets (at least in SF). I have to tell you, it took me by complete surprise and has ruined me for regular pears from here on out. It was the crispest, sweetest and most delectable piece of fruit I've ever eaten, and I'm going to scour the Philadelphia markets for them when I get home. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/15/dining/15fruit.html
I did drink voluminous amounts of fizzy water and green tea to take the edge off, which resulted in many sprints to the ladies room, but all in all, the week went fine.
To my delight, I can attribute a fair amount of my unfailing will power to the scoring system, which means that I've found something that works for me. Unlike all of the diet infomercials out there, I'm fully aware that everyone is different, and what works for one person might not work for another.
I'm an immediate gratification junkie, and so it's important for me to see the immediate benefits (or consequences) of my actions. Unfortunately, when you're dieting without the help of pills or surgery, it can be a very slow process and progress is measured in weeks and months, not days. With our program, the impact of eating "just one piece of chocolate" or skipping a workout is immediately apparent in your daily score. I can absolutely say that I made different choices than I would have made in the past when the impact of my daily choices wasn't as clear.
As a result, I'm happy to report that I got straight 5's in the eating column for the entire week!
I believe that it's extremely important to acknowledge and celebrate little wins, so here's me celebrating.
Yippeeeeeee!!!!!
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