Mama Rocks

We are back from our NYC trip and I loved every minute of it! I knew counting points would not be successful for me so, instead I decided to eat mindfully and stop when I was full. That method worked really well. I got to eat everything I wanted while in New York: Eggplant Parmesean in Little Italy, Best Burger in the World at the famous Corner Bistro, eggs with potatos and toast at the breakfast place next door to our hotel....you name it! There was a Starbucks next to our hotel and across the street! In fact our friend said there were roughly 230 Starbucks in New York City alone. Holy cow. It's like I died and went to heaven! Needless to say, I got a mocha everyday. :)

I also got in a ton of AP's because we walked everywhere. One day I believe we walked 30 blocks! I have no clue how many miles that is, but I could tell my appetite was in high gear. I was burning some serious calories walking and trying not to freeze. It was so cold. I remember reading somewhere that being cold actually causes your body to burn calories at a faster pace. So, I had a couple things going for me.

I will say the last night there I binged! I had 3 White Russians (heavy cream with vodka and kahlua). There were divine, but costly (calories). Then I had a ginormous Italian dinner with bread and pasta. I felt 6 months pregnant by the time we left. I did not stop when I was full for that meal! But it was worth it. It was my last night in NYC and we were living it up. When we arrived back in North Carolina (where my mom lives and where my kiddos were all week) I expected have gained 10 lbs alone from my Italian explosion the night before. Luckily the scale had me at 148 lbs. Which was about where I expected. I promptly got back to counting points and as of today (4 day post NYC) I'm 144 lbs. So, I'm back in my groove!

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve and we're hosting dinner with Ed's family. I'm making Baked Brie for an appetizer and a roasted Pork Loin and my new favorite side dish: cauliflower risotto for dinner. Ed's mom and sister are bringing some extra side dishes and dessert. My plan is to earn some APs (I have to check with the Y to see if my HEAT class is still on in the morning) and use my daily points and flex points wisely. I've figured out that my pitfall is not eating typical "no no" foods, but grazing on them all day long. My game plan is to fix one plate of food and one plate of dessert. And that's it. I plan on completely ingnoring the Brie because I know it's a trigger for me.

I'd like to experiment this year and turn my attention away from food and onto the people I love. For as long as I remember, Holidays have always been about food. Always. It's in my DNA. But I'm trying to take baby steps in a new direction. When I feel the urge to go back for seconds, I'm going to go sit on the floor with my kids and play. Or talk to family. Or play games! I can eat every day of my life. There's no reason to treat Holiday food like it's my last meal.

Holiday mantra:

"This is not my last meal."


My tracker for today:

Grande Mocha: 4 pts
Cinnamon Swirl cake: 3 pts (small piece)

1 cup Homemade Veggie Soup: 1 pt
1 roll: 1 pt

Sliced apple: 1 pt
Chocolate yogurt Dip: 0 pts (1/4 cup Fage 0% yogurt, 1/2 tsp unsweetened cocoa, little bit almond extract, artificial sweetner packet)

Willy's chicken salad: 7 pts
1/2 mocha: 1.5 pts

More cake: 4 pts

Total: 22.5 pts
Flex Used: 2.5 pts
APs Used: 1 pt (cleaning like crazy- sweeping, moping, etc)