A Thanksgiving Success!

First of all, I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and found time to be with friends and/or family on Thursday. I was able to go home, which is a rarity, given that I don't always get holidays off from work. I got to visit with my parents, my grandparents, and cousins from California and Texas. And yesterday I got to have lunch with three of my best friends from high school. I don't always love going home. I hated high school and really didn't "find myself" until I moved out of my hometown, so going back is always a mixed bag of emotions. But this trip proved amazing, and here is why:

-I mentioned already that my mom made her goal weight last week at Weight Watchers (Go Vivian!), so Thanksgiving this year was a lot different than Thanksgivings past. There was a conscious effort not to blow all weight loss efforts out of the water this weekend- from everyone. It was so nice.

-Thursday morning consisted of a 55 minute run/walk on the greenway where our 5k will be in just two short weeks. We rounded out the morning with an apple and some water. The exercise and the healthy snack really kept me on track for the rest of the day. We ate a late lunch around 3pm. I wasn't ravenous, and I kept it all in check!

-I developed a new strategy for tackling all those points that add up on Thanksgiving. I had a very light breakfast (2pt boiled egg, 1pt worth of toast), an early afternoon snack (apple) and then my "lunch" was about 19 points worth of samples of almost everything (turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, carrots, corn, cranberry sauce, etc). Instead of repeating past mistakes and making a repeat plate of lunch come dinnertime, I saved a plate with appetizers and a slice of WW 3 point pumpkin pie for my "dinner". I used 3 APs and 6 WPA for the day. I felt so IN CONTROL compared to the past. And also, I didn't have to hurt anyone's feelings by not eating dessert and appetizers. I simply explained that I was saving them for dinner. I could have chosen not to eat what I had reserved and no one would have been the wiser. This is a great way to work around the holiday food pushers. I will use this tactic for upcoming work parties as well as on our Christmas Eve meal as well.

-I also made a point to get completely back on track on Friday. I had a delicious veggie omelet shared with my mom, toast, and homemade turkey sausage for 6 points. Lunch with friends that afternoon consisted of a grilled chicken salad sans cheese or bacon or any of that other bad stuff. It had these fried onion things on top as decoration (not mentioned in the menu description) that I simply brushed to the side. I did indulge on my favorite jalapeno lime dressing, which was about 4 points, but totally worth it! Dinner consisted of a veggie plate and more WW pumpkin pie. I also went for a 30 minute walk with my mom in the afternoon.

As a result, I was one of about 6 people who showed up to Weight Watchers this morning. AND- I lost 1 pound! On Thanksgiving week! Just two days after Thanksgiving! Amazing! If i can get through this week, I can get through anything!

I feel revived. I feel empowered. This is in large part to my successful and very supportive mom. She spent the weekend encouraging me without pushing. She inspired me without making me feel guilty. And it worked! I'm excited to do this 5k with her in a couple of weeks and really hope that I will be able to shave several more pounds off between now and then. I just keep telling myself how much it will help my knees in the race!