When Things Don't go as Planned

Bite This: Holiday parties ruin weight loss goals for 95% of people who are trying to diet. (Side Note: Sixty-two and a half percent of all statistics are made up.)

You can plan and plan and plan and know what you need to do in order to stay on track with your health and weight goals. But sometimes, wine happens and things do not go as planned. 

Last night my brother and sister-in-law had their annual "Christmas Dinner with Friends." This is the 4th year for this dinner and every year things just get weirder and weirder. But the food gets better and better.  

I knew the food was going to be good, and I knew that my sister-in-law would make her amazing tastes-just-like-candy-gooey-goodness sweet potatoes. Now, I am not dieting, but I do not want to sport a 5 pound weight gain come summer. So yesterday my workout included an Insanity session (Power Cardio Resistance) followed by a 5-mile treadmill run. I threw in an extra mile just for the sweet potatoes. 

I was feeling good by the time the party rolled around. Dinner happened, my portion sizes were well controlled, and I was focused on the company more so than the food. And then? All hell broke loose and everything fell apart. My brother made me try his special "Egg- nog surprise" which was 3 ounces of creamy goodness, so I had another. I lost all self-control after that and decided to eat the whipped cream off of the cheese cake. Not off just a piece of cheesecake, off the whole cheesecake. And instead of doing it all lady-like, I decided the best approach would be to take pieces of bread from an appetizer and use them as scoops across the top of the cake. (Mom, before you cringe, just know that no one saw me do that except Monica - who encouraged it.) Naturally, this led to another glass of wine. Followed up with some pita chips. See? I practice what I preach. :)

Photo Credit: German Nieto (totally photo-bombed this picture too)

So, how do you bounce back from such a downward spiral? Easy! Make your next meal a healthy one. Continue with your exercise routine and start again. Keep that in mind this holiday season when you're feeling badly about overindulging in a holiday party. It's not too late to make the next thing you eat healthy. You do not have to wait until the next day - make it the next meal, or just the next thing that you eat and/or drink. 

How did I recover from this sorry display of dietitioning? (Yep, made that up.) Well, I could not quite muster the energy for my usual workout, but I did take my little Princess Leia on a 4 mile walk. (Which, turns out, is the best way to wear out a puppy. She has been sleeping ever since.) Prior to that walk, I ate a nutritious breakfast consisting of plain nonfat Greek yogurt with cinnamon, Truvia, 1 tablespoon of natural peanut butter, frozen blueberries, and 1/2 cup of Kashi Go Lean cereal. Yum. 

Tomorrow is another new day for making more healthy choices. 

How do you recover when you have overindulged in a meal?

Sound Bite: Try this "streaking" challenge through the holiday season. Do at least 10 minutes of some physical activity every day until January 2nd.