I'm up 5 pounds from my Boston trip. I know a good amount is water retention but it's also a sad reminder for me how quickly I can get back out of range.

As usual, our summer is booked already - tons of baseball games, parties, trips, etc.... All super fun stuff but also difficult with all the eating out so I'm feeling compelled to make a summer eating challenge/contract with myself.

I'm going to pick two meals out a month that will be more splurge like and then keep the rest in check. This is the season where I really enjoy lots of salads and grilled fish so that will make up the majority of my diet. I will stick to that when I'm out. Our ballpark just added a healthy food court with lots of great looking salads and wraps so I can stay on track there. The restaurants in the area all have great salads too.

The focus for me needs to be on the company and events, not the food!

I also need to manage my wine/beer - 2 beers or 4 glasses of wine per week max.

First challenge day will be Friday - out to lunch with friends to celebrate the end of another school year and then baseball Saturday AND Sunday but I can do it!!!!

My next "splurge" meal is over a month away as I definitely used them up this month in Boston so it's all "on plan" for a good long while.

Anyone else have any summer challenges or want to join me in the summer of eating healthy? : )

go peg go!!!

I have to travel on biz next week Monday-Wednesday late. I need to think this through a bit so I thought here would be a good place.

Monday:
Breakfast at home
Lunchtime will arrive while I'm in the air. I think I'll pack a lunch. Almond butter and jelly, chips, veggie, some sort of small sweet treat. Will buy an iced tea at the airport to carry on and always have water.
Snack: Probably a chai in Detroit assuming there is a Starbucks there. Will also pack a Luna bar or something just in case there isn't time, etc.
Dinner: Will arrive and probably be pretty hungry. Will make a good/better/best choice.

Tuesday:
Breakfast in the room: I just did some research to find a grocery store I can go to on my way to the hotel. I will pick up some cereal/oatmeal cups for the 2 mornings, a banana, some milk.
S: We are going to Niagara Falls. Will pack a bar of some sort that I'll pick up when I get one for the flight out.
L: We have a lunch meeting. Will pick up a salad or sandwich for that.
S: Probably something from the conference food service. Last year there were healthy choices.
D: We have chosen a nice restaurant to have dinner in so I will savor and enjoy.

Wednesday:
Breakfast in room
S: Piece of fruit I'll pick up at the store
L: Soup/sandwich somewhere
S: Something at the conference
D: This is going to have to be an airport/drive thru choice and fast. I will be on the run
S: Probably will have something on my stop over in Minneapolis.

Well, it might not be pretty but at least I gave it a little thought. That always means I do a bit better than if I don't. There's nothing all that special about this trip. Just need to do the right things. It'll be the 4th week of my points thing and I don't want to lose traction now.

Peg

Thanks for responding, Peg - I appreciate it. I'm trying to manage my stress by creating as pleasant and calm a work environment as I can, and I'm going out of town on a pleasure trip on Wednesday. Things aren't horrible, just stressful... but I'm going to jump to the group journal for that vent

{{{nbox}}} Sorry to hear things are so stressful. I have a couple of thoughts if you'd like to consider them:

1. Consider taking one or more steps to manage the stress vs. trying to just not use food. In other words, turn your focus on 'doing' vs. 'not doing'. Can you take a walk, journal, do a little yoga (the 20 min downloads at yogadownload.com are nice), even a few minutes of deep breathing?

2. What if you just tried to do x number of days of a habit like eating breakfast at home? Maybe you are getting caught up in all-or-none land.

Feel free to vent about whatever is stressing you out on the board too. That can be very cathartic if it is stuff you are comfortable doing in this 'public' way. The journal post has fallen way down but I'll go dig it out just in case that appeals to you.

Hugs,
Peg

Just this morning I realized I'm reverting to the same bad habits I had when I was stressed out in the spring and early summer of 2006, just before coming to this board. I'm stressed out now too, and it's like I've learned nothing. Well, almost nothing. I do recognize my body signals a bit better (I know what foods make me feel worse) but I can't seem to do the right thing, such as eating a healthy breakfast before going off to the coffee shop to start my day (long story: I want my latte before work but I can really do without the sweet roll or piece of pie that I often have with it!).

I had a good Sunday too. Of course that was after a pretty sketchy week but at least it ended well.

I'm loading up this morning on all kinds of veggies and fruit and will spend time cleaning them so I can "grab and go" if I get snacky.

I had a good food and exercise day. My fat percentage was a bit high (closer to 14) but I still consider that a very good day.

I'm gonna keep playing with this new way of eating. I have to say that if I am able to stick to it, I can totally see why people have NO problem maintaing a lower, healthy body weight. It's just being able to stick with it....we'll see....

I'm in for summer planning---
Thanks for posting the thread, Brie.

I am in the process of making some changes in my food because of my heart disease. After reading and trying things and doing some other research, I am revamping my food to look mostly like this:

75% calories from carbs- mostly whole grain, veg and fruit
15% calorie from protein- non- meat sources- in my case it will be skim milk, ff yogurt, tofu and some egg whites, peanut butter, nuts, beans
10% calories from fat-

I am toyed with this...it's not easy. I don't expect to be there 100%, but I know I can get there at least 85% now. This week will be a normal week without nights out or social obligations. I am going to give sticking to this more rigidly a fighting try this week.

you have a great point jilly poo. i have been trying to do tat conversation in my head--what really is the treat? the special meal? or just chilling out with a good book on the screend porch. i actually loved canoeing on monday, and i realize how much i need to be in nature. i also really enjoyed cleaning out my pantry last weekend. sounds odd..i know, but the feeling of =not being cluttered and finally throwing out outdated food...AHHH! unfortunately, i still need to clean out a few closets and i only have enough time for such projects when we have a holiday (3 day weekend).

i would really like to get back to journaling. not necessarily about food. just short stories, lessons learned, leaving a legacy to my child --type of thing.

I don't know what to do about my summer because things are already pretty hectic, and foodwise I'm not in a very good place right now. I will try and join you ladies soon. Whenever I eat a good salad I'm always amazed at how tasty it really is, not at all the rabbit food I used to call it. Maybe I have some healthy reflexes after all.

I really like going out too but I'm getting better about going out and just doing salads, enjoying not having to cook/clean up and relaxing with whomever I'm with. If I did the special meals a couple of times per week I would undue all the rest of my hard work.

quote:

Originally posted by iz:
brie, i would like to get down to two special meals a month. i do two special meals a week. perhaps i can aim for one a week, and take baby steps.

Iz-same here. I do about one or two special meals per week as well. I don't know about you but for me, after a week of stressful work stuff, family life, and other commitments, I feel like I want to reward myself. Special meals is not the answer for me though. Maybe a pedicure, or some relaxing in my back yard with a good book, or something non-food related.

Jill

brie, i would like to get down to two special meals a month. i do two special meals a week. perhaps i can aim for one a week, and take baby steps.

i do not have any particular plans for the summer. i may have to travel in september so that may be a challenge but i think i will just have to plan. other than that, i am planning to travel to the mountains on july 6th to see some great fireworks. that will definitely change my routine, since we will be driving back in the middle of the night, so there will be some fatigue.

other than that, i hope to get out on the lake as much as I can to canoe. it is quite relaxing and a great way to connect with nature.

I haven't given a lot of thought to the entire summer but these first few weeks got hectic fast. The most alarming thing to me is that I'm not getting my hiking season started and it's not looking good for the next two weeks. I signed up for this job search coaching on Sunday mornings and that looks like it is going to be a limiting factor through June. So, right off the top of my head, figuring that out should be a major goal of mine SOON. I really depend on those longer, more strenuous weekend workouts so I have to work something out. The weather hasn't been cooperating either but hopefully we'll get out of this stupid weekend rain thing soon. I should give myself credit for last weekend though. I did a good starting 90 min bike ride one day and a 6 mile walk in town. Neither is really close to what I usually do hiking in terms of time or cardio but they are still good long periods of activity and I didn't spend hours in the car to get them done.

I am also just back on track so I sort of told myself I would do my 5 point babystep plan for no less than 4 weeks and make a decision from there where I'm headed in terms of whether I change my points or plan or whatever.

Peg

I'm in! I have been attending a lot of events that have really not offered the healthiest eating choices. I've not been exercising, and have been indulging a bit too much with red wine. We got into the habit of going out for dinner one night a week. I want to cut that back to one, maybe two times a month. No wine/alcohol during the week, even "just a glass" with dinner. We are planning a weeks vacation in June and also a number of day/weekend trips so I need to be very careful with my choices.

Here's to a fun but healthy summer!!!

Jill