199.6 What's Up!

It's hard to control weight when you travel. Travel often involves gatherings (around food) with friends and relatives, and sometimes the food options that are presented to me cause me to feel uncomfortable. I have blogged about this before, since this year in particular has involved a lot of travel for me. But something is at work within me that has enabled me to travel without gaining much weight at all.

I have been thinking about this all day and I think I know what's up! Portion control and staying present are keeping me from doing too much damage. Staying present is tricky for me, especially when I am facing high stress, anxiety provoking situations. It is easy for me to become unaware, to go inward into my own little world that is far removed from how much I am eating, how fast I am eating, and what I am eating. Portion control is easier, especially if I check in with myself beforehand about how I am going to deal with the immediate challenges faced by a long buffet of all kinds of good looking food, or even a menu that offers very little in the way of healthy eating choices. One of the nights when we were in Indiana the waitress asked me if I wanted a small house salad with my order and, thinking that would fill me up and be healthy, I said yes and automatically asked for the dressing on the side. Well, the salad came so heavily covered with grated cheese that I could not possibly remove it. I apologized for not asking more questions before I ordered it and then asked for a salad without cheese. This is a new behavior for me because in the past I would have felt that I shouldn't bother the waitress about it and I would have just eaten it, including the cheese. When she returned with the new salad, I was delighted and surprised to see that there were several cherry tomatoes on the salad that weren't even visible because there had been so much cheese.

So now I am back home for a while, totally in control of all that I eat. Let's see if I can't knock some more of this weight off. Or, should I say, let's see if I CAN knock some more of this weight off!

210.6 Looking Back and Forward

Yes!  I arrived home weighing less than when I left for Italy, and I have finally reached that elusive 210 number.  How did I do it?  I spent a lot of energy worrying about how I was doing weight -wise.  I would go over each thing I ate, how much, etc., and made it hard work.  Looking back, I think I could have lightened up a bit and trusted myself and my inner spirit to make the right decisions and not been so obsessed with food during the trip.  Jennifer talks a lot about the fact that discipline plays a big part  in her approach to weight loss, rather than effort.  That discipline was obviously at work and I now know that I can truly trust it to keep me moving forward toward my weight loss goal.  I spent 16 days away from home, eating at least two meals a day in restaurants, and I lost weight.  That would not have happened had I not been involved in this weight loss program.

What I also learned on this trip is that travel is about a lot more than food!  While in Italy, we visited six hill towns and found them charming and great opportunities for exercise whether we wanted to or not! I didn't realize that when these towns were referred to as hill towns, it meant that vertical climbs were everywhere!  The beauty of the Tuscan countryside was astounding.  We drove by acres of olive trees, their gray-green leaves contrasting with the bright green grass that surrounded them, a sight I will never forget.  And, the vineyards with their grape laden vines ready for harvest were spectacular.  The big dark purple grapes reminded me of beads that would work up into beautiful necklaces.  The hill towns themselves, perched up on cliffs to provide protection from invaders hundreds of years ago, were sources of beauty, history and charm.

In addition to this, we had a very special time while we were visiting our daughters and their partners in the Boston area for a couple of days before heading back home.  While waiting for my very dear friend Betsy at a funky breakfast place in Wellesley, I ran into three friends from our Wellesley church community, and later that day we took a walk down Central Street in Wellesley and saw one of our pastors! The night before these encounters we were surprised to see a friend who lives in Beverly Hills in a local restaurant in Wellesley.  All coincidences?  I am not sure about that, but I do know that these encounters were the perfect ending to a wonderful vacation.  So, travel is not all about food!  It is about renewal, spiritual and physical, and enlarging our view of our world and ourselves.