Disastrous food weekend!

[Mbart]

I'm feeling pretty down about my total lack of self-control this past week-end. Since discovering this BB, I've really tried to turn my dietary habits around and eat healthfully, and the payback over the last 6 weeks or so have been great. However, this week-end was an eating nightmare! It started Saturday night, as I ate lots of Easter candy while filling the plastic eggs for Sunday's Egg hunt. Then the bomb exploded Sunday. I was running late that morning, so instead of a healthy breakfast, I grabbed a bagel going out the door. So I was pretty hungry by the time the gang was arriving for the big Easter meal, which was to be somewhere between 1:30 and 3:00. To make matters worse, dinner needed to be delayed a bit (long story, involves the airport, illness, etc.). So I started in on the appetizers (Brie with sun-dried tomato and basil pesto, smoked salmon...YUM!) and just had no self-restraint. By the time we sat down for dinner, I was eating like there was no tomorrow...ham, potatoes au gratin, pasta with mushrooms and asparagus, fruit salad, garden salad, and Strawberry Cheesecake Trifle! (recipe from the food BB). Multiple helpings of the above made its way onto my plate and into my mouth. Not to mention all of the Easter candy that I kept finding and consuming. I'm fairly sure I ate about three days worth of meals yesterday. And now, as the smoke clears, I'm disgusted with myself.

I guess I'm telling you all of this in hopes that you can offer me a word of encouragement. Tell me this happens to everybody. Tell me I can learn from my mistakes. Tell me I didn't REALLY gain three pounds in two days like the scale said this morning! Like the song lyrics, "Give me hope, help me cope with this heavy load..."

[m4star]

Mbart- You are lucky, today is a new day. A clean slate. You can get back into your groove of eating well and exercising. Today instead of punishing yourself and feeling guilt, eat well. Have 3 healthful meals- lots of fresh veggies and fruits. Perhaps you can make today a vegetarian day, stir fry loads of veggies over brown rice.

Don't punish yourself- and get off that scale! You didn't gain 3 pounds in just one weekend. You are just retaining water. Go for a nice vigorous walk and clean out your lungs/head with plenty of deep breathing! You will feel much better in a few days. RELAX and just start fresh today!

[donleyk]

Mbart,

I think it does happen to people. You aren't alone!

I can only say that you are likely to remember how you feel today the next time a holiday or buffet comes around.

When something like that happened to me, I felt so bad (physically) the next day that I was finally able to quit. I was fairy disgusted with myself and now it is easier to pass on a lot of the more unhealthy stuff and the seconds. You need to learn from your mistakes so don't be too hard on yourself. Just regroup and have a very good week this week.

Good luck!

[hka]

Mbart, don't feel too bad. This does happen to everyone from time to time. I think it's okay to enjoy yourself like that. It's definitely good to watch what you eat most of the time but I still think we should allow ourselves the luxury to enjoy eating whatever we want once in a while. When we gain weight, even though it feels like it was over night, it really isn't. We gain it slowly as we have to lose it slowly. You definitely didn't gain three pounds in one day.

m4star is right, today is a new day and you just go forward. I know that guilty feeling you're speaking of but try not to let it get you down. donelyk is also right that when you've done something like this you do remember it the next time a big holiday comes along. I can say that it has helped in the past, to help say no and not eat too much. I was actually able to do that yesterday. You start to think about how it will make you feel if you go ahead and eat whatever you want and it helps to curb that feeling. For me at least it does. Plus, I usually remember the bloated feeling and that's usually enough to stop me. http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/biggrin.gif

Anyway, I hope that encourages you a little. Don't be too hard on yourself because it's not worth it to make yourself feel bad. You're not a bad person for eating whatever you want once a while. http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

[SusieO]

Mbart,
You are not going to undo 6 weeks of good effort in one day, or one weekend. We all have our off days when we forget to eat healthy, or why we want to. The important thing is to get back on track today. http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

[lindrusso]

Mbart -

I too was feeling a bit disgusted with myself this weekend. My eating wasn't too terrible, but I did indulge in the sweets that I gave up for Lent! Yum! But it was the larger-than-usual amounts of wine that were consumed that really killed me! I did manage to get out Saturday for a run-walk interval to make myself feel a bit better. Plus, it's that time of the month and I'm retaining extra water.

Anyway, I started feeling that feeling that has always sabatoged me in the past. That backward slide....that feeling of defeat....that feeling of "I've been bad and I'm gaining weight again, so why not have ANOTHER piece of chocolate????".

I won't let it get me down if you won't!!! Everyone is right - you likely didn't gain that in one weekend - it's the water retention. I have found that if I get back into my routine right away, the water weight goes away and I find I really haven't done the damage that I thought I had.

So, let's put the weekend behind us and refocus on our goals and our healthy eating/exercise habits. We will not let one bad weekend turn into a bad month, months or worse!!!! I plan to put in a very good workout today at the gym (and every day this week, for that matter). And I also plan to give my husband a shot in the arm for buying me candy to help me celebrate the end of Lent http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/wink.gif .

I love having this board here to help me refocus and keep on track and even to commiserate when feeling miserable! Thank you, thank you everyone!!!

[kwormann]

You'll like my theroy.....

If you have been healthy for quite awhile, maybe your body got used to the health, and now you have shocked it into being with you again...maybe even boosted your metobalism!

Kim http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

[Mbart]

You people are the best...I feel better already. I did go out and run an extra mile this a.m., but I would need an extra 40 miles to make up for yesterday. Ahh, but as you said, I will stop beating myself up and just get back in the swing of things...vegies, soy, fiber, etc., here I come!

Thanks again for the support...I'm so thrilled to have found this BB!

[beejayw1]

Hey, Mbart -

I agree with the rest. Stuffing yourself one day isn't going to overturn everything you accomplished, especially if you go right back to your good habits.

Incidentally, if you find a couple pounds have crept on you when you weigh yourself today or tomorrow take heart: they're probably water weight from sodium consumption. Like from those wonderful-sounding salmon and dried tomato hors-d'oeuvres. Hint: Post the recipe? Please?? http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/wink.gif

Actually, like they said before on this thread, a change will jump-start your weight loss efforts.

Beej
I'll never forget a WW leader suggesting that we get off a plateau by scarfing down a brownie!

[Leslie w]

Honey what you did on a weekend I do 2 weeks a month when I'm PMS'ing and have no self control! Yet I still am in great shape and wear a size 4 - 6. The other two weeks I eat right and I always try to exercise as much as possible. You're already in the right frame of mind. One of the benefits about maintaining a healthy lifestyle is that it allows for occasional relapses without repercussions.

[jd]

Mbart, I feel exactly the same way you do! I was at the in-laws, spent most of the time visiting around the kitchen counter and munching anything and everything in site - chips, chocolate, fudge, cookies. I'm in month 7 of WW and haven't had a weekend like that the whole time.

So today, I did start a new day. Back on track, eating better and counting points. As other wise souls on this board have posted in the past, you have to eat an extra 3500 calories to gain a pound - that's 7000 for 2 lb and 10500 for 3 lb. I doubt either of us did that!

Good luck getting back to it. Next holiday, we can both remember what not to do!

[Mbart]

Beejayw1: the appetizers were two separate ones; one called Brie with Sun-Dried Tomatoes, and the other was simply smoked salmon and crackers. My sister-in-law brought the Brie recipe, which she got from our other SIL's parish cookbook. Here it is:

Brie with Sun-dried Tomatoes

1 lb. Brie, chilled
2 T. minced fresh parsley
2 T. freshly grated parmesan
7 sun-dried tomatoes, packed in oil,
drained, reserving 1 T. of oil,and minced.
1 clove garlic
1 tsp. dried basil, crumbled

Remove the rind from the Brie, and place on serving platter. In a small bowl, combine parsley, parmesan, tomatoes, garlic and basil. Add the reserved oil and mix well. Spread the mixture over the Brie and let stand for 1 hour at room temperature before serving. Serve with crackers.

NOTE: My extended family makes this alot, but this was the first time this particular SIL made it. She said she messed up and added WAY more garlic, and twice as much sun-dried tomatoes as the recipe called for. So she bought more brie, then spread the whole mixture around all of the brie, sort of like frosting a cake. We all agreed this was the best rendition of this recipe we have had so far!

I've also wrapped up the whole recipe in crescent roll dough and baked, which makes for a fancy presentation. Simply unroll crescent roll dough and divide into two equal squares. Place cheese on center of one square, top with other square. With a small cookie cutter, cut or carve shape (star, leaves) from each corner of dough. Fold bottom edges of dough around top edges, roll up dough evenly around cheese and press to seal. Brush with beaten egg and decorate with dough cut-outs. Back at 350 for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 15 minutes before serving. When you cut into this golden round bread, you have this gooey cheese, mixed with sun-dried tomatoes, basil and garlic...it's wonderful!

[beejayw1]

Mbart -

Many thanks for the recipe! I have a visit this weekend and may well make this.

(I like making food for get-togethers: first of all, I don't get stuck making tiny amounts, which somehow doesn't satisfy. Secondly, I give people something they enjoy. Finally, I don't end up with left-overs that I am tempted to snack upon...)

Thanks again!
Beej

[GayeC]

Please do not beat yourself up (as many of us are prone to do!). You have been doing well and have the chance to continue doing well from today forward. One unhealthy weekend will not undo all of your progress.

Does it help you to set specific goals? After Easter Sunday I was also feeling a little disgruntled with my eating/weight and decided to set a goal of losing 12 pounds in the next 8 weeks (I know that is at the outer limit of how much fat you can lose in that time period, but I decided to go for it, rather than set a lower goal). I am writing down everything I eat, cutting out sweets, increasing exercise (esp. weights/resistance), and tracking my weight on a chart. I hope those activities will help me achieve this goal, although I know that the same techniques will not appeal to everyone.

Best wishes. Gaye