I haven’t posted in a few days, but I’m still dieting.  I went with my husband on his National Guard weekend, so I didn’t post these past few days.  Basically, I’m back where I was on Thursday.  I went to a wedding on Friday (small disaster– subway during the day because DH was part of the wedding party, so no time to eat; cake, donut, cheese and crackers at the reception; Uno’s pizza afterward).  It could have been worse, but not much!

If I’m traveling, I never do well.  I try to bring bars, etc. with me, but I inevitably end up eating off plan for dinner, at least.  This weekend was no exception.  We ate at Texas Roadhouse (I had 3.5 rolls– and if I hadn’t been on a diet, I would have eaten twice as many– not joking.)  Then we used DH’s meal voucher to go get dessert at Denny’s around 11 pm.  I had a slice of Hershey cake– it was okay, but just okay.  I mean, it was chocolate and sweet, but for as many calories as it contained, I would have much rather had something else.  However, that didnt’ stop me from eating it ALL!

On Sunday, I attempted to do better– bar for breakfast, skipped lunch inadvertently, and then by the time dinner hit, I was STARVED.  We went to TGI Friday’s because I had a B1G1F coupon, and instead of getting something I’m allowed to have, I ate the cajun chicken shrimp alfredo.  No idea how many calories, but if that wasn’t bad enough, I was still super hungry (DH was, too, in my defense– their portion sizes are insanely tiny for the prices.  We won’t be going back, even with a coupon.), so I decided to bake up some of the cookie dough I had made a few weeks ago (the same stuff that got me last time).  It was super-good, so I baked a second round, and I have no idea how many cookies I had, but I’m guessing it’s around ten– yes, TEN!

So, obviously, this weekend tells me I still have quite a few food issues, especially with regard to binging.  I think this diet is so restrictive/calorie controlled that when I get the chance to go off, I go WAY off.  The only real restraint I showed was when I ate so few (few for me anyway) rolls at Texas Roadhouse.  I focused on eating only 1 per basket that was brought (so, that tells you that DH had the other 3 per basket– how many do you think he ate?!?)  This, obviously, will not work on maintenance.  Also, I’m pretty angry with myself for messing up all my recent progress.  Probably what will happen is I’ll be the same weight on Friday as I was the week before– basically treading water.

It stinks, but at least I have two weekends in a row where nothing will be happening.  I have the most trouble when we travel somewhere, and that won’t be happening again until June 27th, when I know I will definitely be going off because we’re eating at an Italian restaurant/buffet where there are literally no good options, and I really like the food, so there you go.  Still, if I really put my best effort in for two weeks (well, actually two weeks and five days), I could literally be in the 150s– past my lowest ever before DH got back from Iraq.  That consideration is motivation right there.  Now all I have to do is stay strong on the weekend when DH suggests pizza or something…

Today I had a really good workout and burned some serious calories, so that helped a bit.  In the big picture, it’s kind of sad how little exercise really helps.  I say “little” because when you compare it with what eating good/bad can do, at least for me, it’s the biggest factor in weight loss or gain.  I still work out on a regular basis, and that’s great for maintenance and for regular health, but I’m not sure it has a huge impact on weight.  Here’s the breakdown for today:

Calories
  Eaten 947
  BMR* 1,889
  Exercise 658
  Total Burned 2,547
  Differential -1,600

weight at home:  166

MRC weight:  168 (three pounds up from last Friday.  In my defense, I was wearing jeans, and I have been in workout clothes (knit shorts) most of the times before, so maybe I’m really only two pounds up– might as well stay positive!)