A few thoughts and observations on overindulging on Thanksgiving…

First and foremost, I admittedly took it too far. My intention to restrict overeating to just two days bled over into three, with the fourth being an average weekend day. That will not happen again on Christmas and New Year’s.

When I overeat, I feel like crap. My first mistake is overloading my plate, followed by finishing everything on it. I end up bloated and very uncomfortable. To me, that’s a horrible feeling, so why allow it? I don’t get why my brain thinks well, you *have to*, it’s Thanksgiving! What’s the point of stuffing myself until I’m in physical pain? It doesn’t give me a sense of satisfaction. Not at all.

And then there’s senseless eating. I had a few things over the last few days that I really didn’t even like all that much, but felt like since I took them, I should eat them. The most memorable of these was a piece of pumpkin pie — I don’t even really like pumpkin pie all that much, and this particular piece tasted odd. I should have just thrown it out, but instead, I ate it. Why on earth did I do that?

On a normal weekend, when I allow more carbs, I’m still selective about what I eat, and actually feel a bit put out if my only options aren’t good ones. I want to enjoy every bite I put in my mouth. I want that to be my goal when I eat, regardless of whether it’s a normal weekday meal, or something I might consider more special. Why even tolerate bad food? Why add those calories to the ones I have to burn off?

So, in a way, Thanksgiving served as a reminder that I should be more conscious of every bite; not just because of diet, but because of enjoyment. It’s a reminder of something I already knew, really, but it seems I need to be reminded again and again. I would have felt better if I’d taken normal servings and not been bloated at the end of the meals.

Likewise, I ended up gaining a total of 8 pounds; water weight, since most of that has come off, but still, it’s no fun watching that scale go up — for any reason. Luckily, most of it has come off since then, and I’m hoping my actual losses will resume next week.

This weekend is bringing its own challenges — another situation in which it seems to be allowable and encouraged to overeat; I live in the south, and there’s an ice storm moving in today. Chances are that we’ll lose power. I’m not sure why the immediate reaction of most people is to clean out the grocery store shelves when there’s a pending storm; they usually only last a couple of days, tops, but we do it, anyway. Our house is no exception.

Because, you know, chips and cheese dip are necessities to survive ice storms. 😉 Me, I’m prepared; the cheese dip is okay (in moderation), and I have other things to dip in it. No chips for me. Last week reminded me that I need to have a plan for special occasions — whether those occasions are holidays, celebrations, or unusual weather.

There’s no weight loss to report this week, but the good news is that I’m feeling a lot better about last week’s transgressions; it’s better to learn from them than to throw my hands up in defeat and use it as an excuse to give up, because I have had those feelings on occasion over recent weeks. I feel more solid, now.