What Did I Learn?

I know you all have been on pins and needles waiting for my wisdom. Ha! Ok, maybe not. But I'll tell you what I learned anyway.

I've discovered that I'm pretty good at preparing for an "event." For example, Thanksgiving dinner, or a party. What I need to work on is preparing for the time around the event. Particularly when said time is away from my home.

This past weekend my friend had a 40th birthday party. It was a couple hours away at a dog-friendly inn, so my girl came with me. The event included an afternoon at the outdoor bar, a cocktail hour with appetizers and then (but wait! there's more!) a five-course meal followed by a DJ and dancing. Talk about a fun party and talk about temptation! I was really proud of myself at the party. I ate as sensibly as one can when presented with 5 courses. I left food on the plate and asked myself whether each dish was really worth eating. Believe it or not, once the ice cream was gone, the cake was a little dry, so I stopped. I danced until 1am and had a really fun time.

So guess where I fell apart? The next day! I hadn't planned my food and I succumbed to delicious muffins and a too-large breakfast. Then part of the day was spent in a vacation town and I ate a huge serving of ice cream. After that I fell for the "in for a penny, in for a pound" fallacy and ate my way home. What a dingaling... Honestly I haven't really pulled myself back into healthier eating since. I just want to eat without calculating points. But I know that does not work for me, so I'm taking it minute by minute.

Lesson learned: Plan for the entire trip, not just the difficult meal! When I look back at Thanksgiving this year I see the same pattern. I did well with the meal itself, but I fell apart before and after.

I have a trip to Nevada at the end of this month. I finally get to meet my new neice! Let's see if I can use the lessons learned from this weekend to make that weekend successful.