all things considered

All things considered, that went pretty well last night. I definitely didn't stick to the exact plan I had in mind, but having made the plan to begin with really helped me mentally during the party. And luckily, I was able to make some good choices (and not feel like a fatty) while still having a nice time.

I didn't even realize that this being a fancy Park Avenue apartment party, there wouldn't even BE tons of unhealthy food laying all over the place! Duh! These are rich people. They have salmon on wafers at these sorts of parties. They have waiters who pass the hors d’oeuvres, so you can't really take more than one at a time without feeling like a jerk, and you're at the mercy of the kitchen who decides how often and how much food is coming out. Thank god.

They still had some tasty stuff...chicken and mango salsa on toast, mini grilled cheeses, mini hamburgers (omg), mini pizzas, something with salmon....this all had fancier names that I can't remember, btw. And they had some bowls of nuts lying around that I definitely helped myself to. I had a few of each of the hors d'oeuvres and a few glasses of wine (they keep pouring for you and I'm sure that glass was refilled at least once that I didn't authorize, but oh well).

The best part was that when the DESSERT TRAYS (ugh) were being passed, I only had one small fruit tart thing and left the rest...there were eclairs and chocolate thingies and I just declined. I'd had more than enough sugar. That was a major victory.

So I left the party feeling as though I'd been really successful, but then I met Daniel and Randy downtown and I ordered a small personal pizza with sausage on it. I was starving. Ha. So I ate that. Yup, the whole thing. But I don't regret it. I think I didn't a pretty fantastic job of navigating the party, I had plenty of veggies and healthy things at the party, and the pizza, although a tipsy indulgence, was very thin crusted and took the edge off the booze.

I woke up desperate for water so I've been chuggin it and I had a very healthy breakfast when I got to work. I will REALLY avoid the sugar today. There are more fucking cookies out (people send so much shit to us this time of year) and they don't even look good to me. Blech. There are lovely clementines in the kitchen so if I'm desperate for sugar, I'll have one of those and a small dark chocolate square.

Lunch will be a frozen meal, either a panini (6 points) or a burrito (5 points), and then I'll have an afternoon snack, perhaps some popcorn and a piece of fruit. Dinner will be whatever I can grab because I have a rehearsal and a show back to back tonight and won't be done with everything until around 11. Hopefully I can find something cheap and simple and healthy - maybe soup, maybe a salad? We'll see.

I'm going to exercise again on my lunch break today; hopefully I can get 30 mins of cardio in. I think I pretty much cleared out my flex points for the week last night, and one of my goals this week is to stay within 35 flex points, so the rest of the week is gonna have to involved very judicious food choices and plenty of exercise to earn those APs. It's hard to go from eating around 30 points a day to eating around 23 points a day, but that's what I have to do. These first weeks back are always the hardest. And frankly, I probably underestimated some of my food intake, pointswise, last night, so I think it's better to just call it a week in terms of the flex bank and move on. Yup, I'm dieting. Yup. I am. That's just the way it goes.

The only other challenges this week will be drinks with Daniel on Friday night and a Christmas party late Saturday night. Daniel will only have about 35 minutes to hang out on Friday night so I can probably just get away with having one low-cal drink with him. No problem there. And the party on Saturday night will be easy to navigate if I stick to sparkling water and we don't stay too long. Yup, I'm dieting. Sorry, world. This is how it has to be for now. I ALWAYS enjoy myself with food and drink. I'm taking a break for a little while.

I'm feelin really really good about being back on track this way, even if I did eat 25 points extra last night. I'm loving blogging about it right now and I'm loving being accountable. I woke up this morning feeling and looking good. Awesome.

I'm hoping to pick up a scale some time this week so it's easier for me to check in.

All good things...