Moderation...in all things

I had a great week last week. Stayed on the low end of my calorie range, and exercised every day. TWICE every day Monday through Friday. Partly to try out some evening exercise classes for when I go back to work in two weeks (ugh!) and partly to make my Fitbit step goals. And DH took off Friday afternoon to hike with me. My normal routine this summer has been to walk 3 miles at the park on M,W, and F, and 30 minutes on the elliptical and weights at the gym on T and Th. I've also been trying some yoga and pilates videos on SP and YouTube. I meet my exercise buddy every morning at 7:30. I've kept that routine while adding the classes, evening walks, and Friday's hike.

So anyway, after such a great week, I hit the wall yesterday. I was completely exhausted, so I took the day off. Then I was irritable and moody from not exercising. To treat myself, I made cheese sauce for my broccoli. But being so virtuous, I tried a light version with no butter, and it was NASTY! (One T. of the good stuff would have been better than the 1/4 c. of the fat-free nastiness I ate!). So by then I'm really feeling sorry for myself, as DH is freshening his martini. I convinced myself that after working so hard all week, and having such a lousy Saturday, that I really deserved one too...then another. Next I found the pineapple rum left over from vacation and treated myself to that too. Blew my calorie count for the day, and felt like crap this morning.

And today was my weigh-in. With all that exercise I was hoping for a 2.5 lb. loss (I counted a 12,000 cal. deficit for the week, at 3500 per pound it made sense to me,) but the scales showed only 1 pound!

Today was a new day though, so onward and upward. Hiked about 4 miles, and stayed mid-range for calories. My Fitbit showed I had climbed 62 flights of stairs..lol! And I made my 10,000 steps, but not 15,000 like I did on Friday.

Happily, I also discovered today I could change the settings on the nutrition tracker to adjust my calorie range to my activity level, allowing me to eat more calories on super-active days. I will still try to stick to the low end of the range, but I think it will help prevent feeling like I did yesterday.

LESSON LEARNED: MODERATION! Too much exercise or too few calories can set me up for failure. And a little real food is better than a lot of "diet" food. I felt I was able to drink in moderation during vacation and stay in my calorie range, but only lost .6 during that 2 week period, in spite of being very active. Staying alcohol free is the only way I am going to be able to meet my health goals and keep the weight off for good this time. (So perhaps being AF is moderation for me?).

I got it right today, and tomorrow is another chance to get it right. I'm in it for the long term, and I'll make mistakes along the way, but mistakes are for learning!