Battle of the Bulge

Much has happened in the past week (which I will share in my next blog entry),  but I first want to report on how amazingly well my food plan worked for the retreat.   I brought my Freshology salad with me for the first day, just as I’d planned, as I was able to keep it cool with an ice pack.  It was delicious, and really helped me set the frame of mind for how I would eat during the rest of the retreat.  Outing myself in my previous blog was the BEST thing I could have done, because it really did help keep me stay accountable.  I’d already lost 7 pounds before the weekend and was determined to NOT screw that up.

I treated each meal as if it were by Freshology.  My breakfasts completely mimicked FreshLite’s.  If they served pancakes, I only had one.  Waffles, same thing, and with only enough syrup to taste (no butter).  And always always I would add some eggs, or one slice of bacon.  I ate green vegetables with lunch & dinner, and small portions of lean protein, too.  I avoided the breads altogether and if I had a starch like rice or potato, took only a sampling.  I ate slowly.  I also paid attention to when I was feeling satisfied and stopped eating.  When dessert was served, I cut mine in half, and immediately threw half away.  I know myself so well, and had I kept it on my plate, that second half would have made its way into my mouth eventually.   So I nipped that in the bud.  I also drank TONS of water.

I was in charge of selling water & soda during the retreat.  My area was directly across from the hospitality table, which served FOOD NON-STOP.  But I’d made up my mind ahead of time, I would not let myself graze and for the most part, I followed that pretty rigidly.  My shift didn’t end until midnight though, and by that time , I was getting a little hungry (as I’d been up since 7 a.m.), so had apple slices with a small amt of peanut butter - a great hunger-curbing trick I learned from Freshology last year - and/or a handful of small crackers with peanut butter, and also fresh broccoli and carrots (no dressing).

I made a little deal with myself, too - that if I stayed away from the candy altogether (which I did), I’d reward myself with a Mocha Frap Light from Starbucks on the way home.  I know, I know, it’s 130 extra calories that I didn’t need.  But I figured it saved me from potentially hundreds (if not thousands) more calories in candy, so it was completely worthwhile.

I came home from the retreat feeling lighter - both emotionally & physically - than I had when I arrived on Friday morning.  And that was exactly what I had planned.

I just returned home from a wonderful, peaceful, Native American sweat lodge in Malibu.  What breathtakingly gorgeous surroundings we were in today.  I was long overdue for a sweat, as it had been several years since my last one.  It is such a beautiful cleansing of the body, mind & spirit.  There is something quite sacred in the ritual, too.  Magic happens for me in the lodge, always.  My heart feels full and open and yet somehow broken, but it is in the brokenness that true healing occurs and more God force energy enters in.  I left the lodge tonight feeling more whole, more content, more authentically me than I was when I arrived.  I was able to fill my spiritual hunger with God and nature, rather than with food.  And that’s a very beautiful thing.