I think the one interesting thing about weight loss in general is how quickly things can spiral out of control…
The last few days have been a bit stressful and my healthy food options were severely limited on my trip to Edmonton and now I just feel gross. This, my friends, is the hazard of traveling for work. I was in closed meetings so i was eating what they offered…which was horrible–it was all heavily cheesed pasta and the “salad” was a super heavily dressed Caesar salad and pastries. I had no access to a fridge in my hotel room, nor did I have time to run to the grocery store to grab food like I normally do on work trips.
So what do you do when faced with these unhealthy options? I don’t function well if I don’t eat, so I chose the vegetarian lasagna…and then I had a piece of cake because I was being peer pressured into it by the people in my meeting. I still can’t believe I caved on that one. So dumb.
Then our meeting ran late and I had to rush to the airport to fly home. I barely had time to grab something and the only thing that was line free was Starbucks…and so I got the most appetizing and lowest calorie option of their pastries (as all of their fruit/salad/real food options were gone), a piece of reduced fat coffee cake and a non fat caramel macchiato…I needed the coffee as my typical Alberta migraine was stating to kick in and I needed the caffeine.
Needless to say, by the time I got home, I was STARVING and the only thing in the house was a frozen pizza…so there goes another 600 calories I am guessing. Plus…it ruined my sleep and I felt sooo gross this morning. I am also not looking forward to seeing the damage on my Sunday weigh in–I have a feeling I will be plus 3 lbs though it feels like 10.
This is what bugs me about bad eating days when they come. They tend to start a bit of a spiral lasting 2-3 days of horrible eating and it sucks because it negates all the work i have done. It also makes me afraid of falling back into my old bad, eating disorder habits. I have come so far and when this happens…eek. I have not felt the urge to go back…but it is always in the back of my head when one of these spirals hit.
Truthfully, this, more than anything, is a reason why I think I need to leave this job. The traveling throws me horribly out of balance and that loss of balance, well, it greatly affects my mental, emotional and physical health…and it is not good if your job leads to those things routinely. Has anyone else experienced these sorts of spirals? if so, how do you deal? Do you just not eat? Do you eat and then pay later (like I am doing)?
In any case, the spiral ends today. I am going to go to the gym and have a good run (my runs in Edmonton were HORRIBLE–why do I always have horrible runs on Life Fitness treadmills?!?), some extra cardio on the rower and stationary bike and possibly some weights and just work off the stress and the spiral.
Now if only I hadn’t had a dessert date planned for tonight with a preggers friend of mine who I haven’t seen in weeks. I think I will just get a latte and try to strengthen my peer pressure muscle. 🙂 Plus, I refuse to miss out on fun things in my life because of losing weight. Being thin isn’t worth being a hermit in my opinion.
Oh and score extra points for turning a negative few days into a positive. Plus I somehow managed to squeeze in two workouts while I was away–if it wasn’t for the horrible eating options, I would’ve been an all-star–esp since I got up at 5:45 to squeeze in one of those runs! 🙂 Am super proud of that–truthfully it is the silver lining of the last few days
Thanks for listening everyone! Much Love!
Leesah
Traveling is very hard on a diet. I have experienced this when I have been skinny and not so skinny. I always to to make sure I book a hotel with a gym and treat the gym like a spa. Because it is new and different, I’m forced to try different machines and change my normal routine. This is the only way I’m able to make traveling and dieting fun!
I don’t stay in a hotel that doesn’t have a gym…and normally not without a fridge and microwave either, but this involved a team of other people coming in from around the world and we were forced to all stay in the same place. Aside from the treadmill hating me, the gym itself was quite nice. I booked hotels for my next two trips with really amazing looking gyms…hopefully the pics match up to the actual experience. 🙂
I have always found it advisable to walk on eggshells around pregnant women. If she suggests that you are calling her fat by refusing to eat, grab the cake as quickly as possible!! Haha.
I recently traveled and knew my eating was going to suffer. I got up and hit the hotel gym and drank my Shakeology (made with no added fruit and water to save calories and because I didnt pack a blender).Then I tried to watch my portions of the poor choices offered. It ended up being ok, actually, when I got back. 🙂
What exactly is Shakeology? I’m not sure if we have that brand north of the 49th Parallel (so many food things I love are only in the states and it makes me sad. lol). It would def. be good to carry that with me en route for the airporst when there is no good food or if I’m rushed like I was on this trip–its something that will fill me up without killing my diet.
Oh and I survived not getting any cake with my preggers friend. When I explained the situation she totally understood and then we b!tched about how work events are awful because they never have healthy options. lol. It was very therapeutic, actually. 🙂 Oh and I got to feel my niece kick, which was pretty thrilling.
That baby kicking thing is very, very cool. and nice job on the cake… I guess friends can get away with more than husbands can, haha!
Shakeology is a Beachbody product that basically contains all your vegetables in one shake. You can fruit and milk and it makes a delicious shake or you can mix it with water and its pretty good (especially the strawberry flavor, I am less of fan of the greenberry with just water). I attribute it to really helping out with my recent weight loss, but I dont know if it is available in the frozen north (haha!). I bet Crystal would know, but she is not here now.
Check out the videos here if you want some more info…http://www.coachcrystalfitness.com/Shakeology.html.
I think part of it is that my friend knows about my eating struggles (and has had some of her own) and she knows that when it’s not normal for me to not imbibe in a treat with her on the off chance that we do have something “naughty.” I made a joke that we will come back when I’m not carrying a food baby and while she is still carrying my niece (notice how I am already claiming ownership of her child).
As for the Shakeology, I will do some research to see if I can find it here. We have Vega products and Greens plus but I haven’t seen Shakeology. Another thing to add to my grocery list when I go stateside in April…along with my favourite treat–Trader Joe’s Organic Mac and Cheese (with added asperagus, broccoli and sometimes black beans…i know weird, right)….*homer simpson style drool* I know it’s terrible for me, but I use it along with my other favourite American treat, Cherry Coke zero, as my “comfort” when I have a migraine. I know its dumb, but it calms me and makes me feel a smidgen better when I want to keel over and die.
Haha, well, if the effect of resisting is keeling over and dying, by all means, drink the Cherry Coke Zero!! And nothing is that bad every now and again. Except maybe heroin, I dont know personally, but I think that is bad even in moderation…;)
Will def. avoid the heroin. I am a big Neil Young fan and thus am super aware of the ‘needle and the damage done.’