Something occurred to me recently that I just have to call an epiphany in my weight loss efforts.  And really, an epiphany about my relationship with food.  So here are the gory details…

It was an Upday in my diet and I had eaten pretty well so far.  We had some ground chicken in the fridge that was going to go bad if we didn’t eat it so hubby thought he would make some chicken tacos.  Yum!  Well, he used this fancy trick that I taught him (that I learned from my dad) to make these delicious “fried” taco shells.  (Pretty funny actually because he fried my whole wheat taco shells!) 

So anyway, these taco shells absolutely stole the show!  My plan had been to just have one but as a matter of fact, I could not get enough of these tacos.  After eating one, I started working on my second one, eating it as if it was the last taco I was ever going to eat… savoring every bite… enjoying the flavor… the smell… already starting to think about eating a third one… then thinking that I had better eat as much as I can while it lasted… And that was when it occurred to me:

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I’m baaaaack!  And boy did I learn A LOT while I was gone.  Here’s a run-down of all my Disneyworld epiphanies (in no particular order)!

1.  I love spray-able sunscreen.  It is the best stuff ever and I will never ever squeeze another bottle of sunscreen again!

2.  I was able to walk forever and not get tired.  We went to at least one park everyday and I had no trouble with the constant movement, in fact I enjoyed it.  Very cool!

3.  I need to find better strategies for eating healthy on vacation.  Around the 2nd day I started making some minor bad food choices.  By the time we left, I was making MAJORLY bad food choices.  I’m not gonna freak out over it, just going to get back on the horse and keep going from where I left off.  Although I really find it interesting just how easy it was for me to say “screw it” and eat bad.  It doesn’t seem like it should be that easy.

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Welcome to this week’s installment of the Useful Website of the Week!  This week I submit to you a fun little website that is devoted to giving us tips to improve our lives with a common sense approach.  The website, Dumb Little Man, states that they are here to provide tips that will save us money, increase our productivity, or simply keep us sane.

I have found many posts on Dumb Little Man to be very practical and useful.  Here are some of my favorites that make me laugh and yet still provide some real insight. 

I often refer to the post, 10 Commandments for Dropping 10 Pounds & 10 Years, for a much needed reminder on how simple it actually is to be healthy.  I tend to complicate health and weight loss, so it’s nice to have a post like this to get a reality check.

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So I promised you an update two weeks ago about my plateau, formerly known as “not a plateau“.  I had discussed changing my eating habits even further by cutting out some of the sweet cheats I’d still been eating and by adding more healthy calories to my diet.  I did those things, and to a large extent, they did not make a difference.  I was surprised because I really thought for sure that those changes would help solve the problem, and they didn’t.  They did, however, help me to realize some things about my frame of mind during this plateau.

I’ve realized, through prayer and talking to friends, that I am relying way too much on the number on the scale.  And I don’t think it’s healthy.  And aren’t I trying to just be healthy?  Well I can’t let my weight loss become an obsession and go and screw up my mental health, right?!  So this has all brought me to the conclusion that I need to cut my time on the scale down to once a week for a weekly weigh-in and that’s it.

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How do your vacations usually effect your weight loss?  Is it hard for you to stay on track?  Do you take a diet break?  Does going out of town throw your routine out of whack?  I’ve grappled with these questions before and gone into some trips very unprepared for what temptations are out there.  In the past, I have completely stopped my diet and ate whatever my heart desired.  I’ve had other times where I’ve done ok being out of my routine and managed to eat healthy and get some exercise. 

Fighting temptation while on vacation can be a tricky thing.  We are going to Disneyworld in a few weeks and how I will handle myself while there is definitely something I am considering.  I decided to do some research and find some tips from the experts to help me have a plan and a better idea of how to be successful on vacation.  (You mean I can’t eat a churro!?) 

This article from Diet & Body has tips for the different types of vacations people take.  Road trips, staying with friends or family, airport tips, and advice on returning to your routine when you get back home. 

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It seems as though life is a series of ‘firsts‘.  And as if best friends, my firsts have always been paired with fear and anxiety.  In the past, every new experience that awaited me was greeted with white knuckles and peeking out of fearful eyes.  In the case of motherhood, everything about raising a daughter has been a first. 

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Lately I’ve had a lot of financial issues on my mind. Maybe it’s because tax day was yesterday and the media was all abuzz. Or maybe it’s because my husband and I are working to improve our own financial situation to begin saving for our daughter’s future. Maybe it’s the continually rising gas prices or the big R word we keep hearing about. Or maybe it’s some of the fantastic articles I’ve read lately about money saving tools and finding financial perspective. It’s likely that all these things have played a role in money being at the fore-front of my mind.

During these frustrating economic times, it can be so helpful just to feel as if you are taking control of your own finances by being proactive. It certainly helps to avoid feeling like a victim of circumstances and like things are beyond our control. It’s taken me a long time to realize that I am solely responsible for my actions and that it’s my choices that have brought me to where I am today… whether that be good, bad, or indifferent.

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Right now it seems as though my path to weight loss has a big, fat, red brick wall sitting across it.  I’m working really hard in my workouts (harder than ever, in fact) and eating the minimum amount of calories that I should be, and yet, the numbers are not moving.  This keeps happening and I’m not sure why, but I have a couple of theories. 

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Those are words that used to make me cringe!  I’ve been high and low more times on the scale than Oprah… maybe.  I was always on the chubby side growing up and I could give a very detailed tale of each way I would lose weight and the reasons I would put it back on. 

Let me just put it like this:  I never lived a healthy lifestyle that included owning my body and being responsible for my choices. 

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I am a procrastinator at heart. And there is a side of me that is lazy, selfish, and gluttonous. If I let this side of me out, watch out world, let the negativity fly! Actually, there’d be nothing to watch out for because I’d be asleep, watching tv, stuffing my face, or doing some other non-productive life-wasting activity. And wow, is that an unhappy me.

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