Staying on Track While Celebrating.

Yesterday was my 26th birthday! I had a brief thought yesterday morning to just go crazy for one day and not worry about calories or exercise. It was a very brief thought. If you read my blog post about the weight I lost last year, you'll know that veering from the plan usually does not work for me. I am in a much better position to be disciplined than I was at that point. I am sure that I could have treated myself for the day and picked everything right back up today. I am not just on a "diet" this time. I have completely changed my lifestyle. So, yes it probably would not have been a huge setback. The reason that I mainained my calories (even on my birthday) was all because of a notifcation on "MyFitnessPal". The day before my birthday, I recieved a notification on MyFitnessPal that said, "SarahBabb has logged in for 200 days in a row!". 200 days is a long time. It doesn't specify this, but I have also never gone over my calories in 200 days. I decided that it would be an awesome thing to be able to say that I made it from start to finish of reaching my goal weight without going over my calories once. I am so close to the end that I can easily make it to my goal and still be able to say that. It is just a pride thing at this point.

Realistically, when I reach my goal weight there will be days here and there that I go over my calories. At that point, I will just be maintaining my weight. I will be eating around 1600 calories per day verses the 1200 that I have grown accustomed to. That will be very doable for me since I am so used to having 1200. However, at that point I will be doing things a little differently. If I go to a superbowl party and feel like having a few wings, I am going to. I will allow myself to splurge occasionally. "Occasionally" is the key word there. Obviously if I allow myself 3 splurge days per week, it won't take me long to start putting weight back on. One splurge day every other week or as special occasions come up is very reasonable though. I will have to retrain myself that it is ok to indulge sometimes. I just can't make a habit of it. I have a feeling that when I am done, I am going to struggle with food a little bit. What I mean by that is that if I do splurge and have a slice of pizza, I'm afraid that I will feel like I will immediately gain five pounds. It will be a new learning process of still saying no most of the time, but allowing a yes every now and again.

For now though, it is still time to be strict. Especially since the end is so within reach. In March losing 75 pounds seemed so far away and unobtainable. Now it is right there, and all I have to do is keep it up for a little while longer. Don't feel bad for me though, I still enjoyed some frozen yogurt at Sweet CeCe's for my birthday last night. There are still ways to indulge within your limits. There are ways to stay on track without feeling deprived. It is all about figuring out what works for you and being able to admit what doesn't work for you. What works for me might not work for you and vice versa. Experiment, and learn from your mistakes. That's what it finally took for me to be successful!

Thanks for reading,

Sarah