It's a New Day

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving yesterday!  We enjoyed having most of our family together (my younger daughter is a nurse and had to work, but her husband and children were with us).  We also celebrated our twin grandchildren's 3rd birthday yesterday (they turned 3 today), so there was a lot of activity and excitement.

Leading up to our 5 PM dinner, my husband and I had 4 Medifast meals, saving most of our calories for a traditional Thanksgiving feast.  I'd like to be able to tell you that I ate in moderation and didn't over-do it, but that wouldn't be true.  By the time the day was over, I was full-to-stuffed, and I realized all over again that I really don't like that feeling.  The good news is that I sent food home with everyone and made sure the desserts left the premises, too :-).  One of the things I've learned over the past year is that I cannot have sweets in the house.  I'm only half-kidding when I say that my brain disengages the minute I start eating sugar.  I rarely eat sweets these days and I need to eat them in very controlled situations - in other words, leaving a plate of homemade cookies at my house is not a good idea . . . Eating Medifast meals prior to our Thanksgiving dinner helped to off-set the calories consumed at dinner and today is pretty much back to basics for me. 

One of the things that's so wonderful about this program is that, in maintenance, I can enjoy an occasional over-indulgence and rein it back in immediately by cutting my calories back for a few days.  Because I want to make sure I'm still getting great nutrition even when my calories are low, picking up a couple of extra Medifast meals is the way I choose to bring things back in line.  I know I feel better when I'm eating right, and the sluggish feeling I had last night was a reminder to me of how much I don't want to go back to my old, bad habits.  It also made me realize that I could have made better choices, and that old sluggish feeling honestly made me wish that I had.   However, I didn't waste any energy berating myself for my less-than-stellar choices last night - today is a new day!

Learning to not allow past choices to unduly dictate future choices has been an important part of maintenance for me.  When I do stray from the straight and narrow, I head back to what I know I need to do right away.   And every time I do, I am choosing to remain healthy. 

If you stayed on plan yesterday - good for you!  Having gotten through one holiday on plan, you are well-positioned for great weight loss right through the holidays.  If yesterday wasn't a stellar day for you plan-wise, today is a new day for you, too!  Don't allow yesterday's choices to dictate the choices you make today.  This can be a new day for you, too!

It always comes down to choices, so choose wisely :-)