I want to give a special shout out to all those who have been so supportive and motivating as I find my spark again. Today will be a good test in how much I've learned. Later my daughter and I are going to a family function. Am I excited about seeing my family? Yes! But my mom's side do not have weight issues. They can eat whatever they want and they are all a normal weight. So there will be food there and they will be pushing it. I know I can't get through today without a game plan. So this morning I had a light, but filling breakfast: bran cereal and a half a grapefruit. I will have an apple or some other fruit before I leave to head out there, but it's when I get there that will be tough. I can guarantee that the minute I walk through the door, it will be time to eat even though the party is at 2P which means I will have a light lunch later. I'm thinking salad.

And we will probably be there 6 hours with the food there the whole time being pushed around. So I need a game plan. Here are some thoughts:
1.) I'm going to practice my mindful eating. This will be a great opportunity to be the slowest eater at the table. I'm going to stop eating so I can talk and have a conversation and take a bite when I'm listening. This is an opportunity to take some lessons from my daughter who would rather talk and play than eat.
2.) Always have a little food on my plate. I'm going to pick a food that doesn't spoil and leave it on my plate for most of the event. This way when someone asks if I want more anything, I can say, "No...I'm still working on these" chips or this piece of fruit or whatever I decide that item to be.
3.) I'm going to write down what I eat! This is not going to be a free day like in the past where I don't hold myself accountable. It's okay to indulge. I burned a lot more calories this week then I had planned for thanks to shoveling and some other things, but that doesn't mean I have a free pass. I still want to make sure that I come out good for the week.
4.) I am going to make some time to play with my daughter and get outside with her and build a snowman or have a snowball fight. I'm sure I can get the older children to join in so we are getting some fun exercise in. As an added bonus, I won't have ANY food near me!
5.) I'm going to bring some water with me and I'm going to drink that like my Mom does. My Mom drinks only water and she always brings a bottle of water with her. I've been drinking a lot of water lately and I love it! It frees up calories for things that will keep me full...like food! I'm sure the hostess won't mind since she won't have to worry about beverages for me. If it makes her feel better, I will accept a glass and a splash of juice.
6.) I'm going to load my plate with healthier choices so there is less room for the indulgences.
7.) I"m going to be the last one to the table to fill up my plate. I'm usually the first because no one wants to get things started, but I'm going to let my dad, my brother's family, anyone else go first, and keep letting people go so that they are well into eating when I sit down. This way when they are going to get seconds, I'm still working on what I have.
8.) When they are pushing the desserts and other indulgences, my phrase is going to be, "I was thinking of trying that later" or "I will get some later. I still have X to work on."
9.) I'm going to use what I've been doing right to motivate me. I am consistently getting enough sleep so that I have more energy and do not eat because I'm tired and trying to wake up. I'm also now starting to drink 8 cups of water a day! This has also helped me in being energized, getting more exercise from the frequent trips to the bathroom, and keeps my tummy from not growling from thirst.

I know if I want to get to here , I need to do these small things and let them take hold like habits. My next goal is to work on fruit. I know when I was successful in the past, I ate lots of fruit and vegetables. To me, the fruit is more important than veggies for two reasons:
1) I'm more apt to eat veggies than fruit.
2) Eating fruit helps my sweet tooth.

So today with breakfast I had a piece of fruit and that is my goal for starters is that at least once a day I have a piece of fruit. It can be fresh, canned, frozen, dried. Just so long as it's really fruit. It doesn't have to be a full serving. I want to get into the habit of eating fruit and I think if I do like a little at breakfast and then have a little at lunch and dinner and in my snacks, I can reach my goal of 2 to 3 servings of fruit a day. The trick is to make it a conscious effort instead of hoping the mood strikes me. That's one thing I love about SparkPeople. They don't tell you to focus on what NOT to eat. They ask you to focus on what you can and that's my mentality now. Instead of saying, "I can't drink X." I made a goal of drinking more water and now I find that I'm not drinking Crystal light and other sugar free Kool-Aid and juice naturally. Not that it's not okay to have these things and if I really would like to mix it up, I can. I'm just naturally enjoying drinking more water. So my thinking is by eating fruit, then I will be less likely to eat a cookie or some other sugary treat.

This can be my year, but I can't think about the year. I have to treat each day as a fresh start and recommit myself to my goals!