Oh, Thanksgiving. You dirty, dirty, dog. Not the thankfulness/empathy/kindness/family/sharing/historical part. No. I’m talking about the part where we all made way too much food and settled into eating it all weekend long to the exclusion of things less roasted, puréed and refined. And we ate like we were champions competing (well, maybe not, but funny!)! Then, today, when we all went back to work, we looked in the mirror and noticed a little extra puffiness. My eyes were super crinkly this morning and my neck extra crepe-y in that attractive, turkey-wattle kind of way. Weightloss, Thanksgiving bloat and aging are not my friends today! Sheesh.
It was nice to know I wasn’t alone with my gain, though. So many people came up to me today confessing that they gained between 3-8 pounds over the weekend. Time and again they would marvel that it takes a week of really focused hard work to maybe lose a pound or two, but those suckers pile on the moment you let your guard down and eat some gravy or pie. I’ve read about this before and I seem to remember it explained like a latex balloon. When the fat balloon (for lack of a better term) is created, it’s all lovely, small and perfect for storing a reasonable amount of fat. But like a real balloon, it can expand and grow and get all kinds of overfilled, bloated and gigantic. Imagine, then, emptying said ballon. It’s distended and huge, misshapen, now, and perfectly ready to refill with fat just as soon as you provide it with the right fodder. That’s right. It’s just sitting there. Waiting. For you to gorge. That’s why the fat comes back so easy: Built-in storage! It’s why so many people have such a hard time keeping fat off long-term As well.
My friends and I decided to counter the Thanksgiving Beast with the good, ole one-two of food journaling and Zumba attendance. If I get my game face back on, I should be able to get things rolling again. We are headed to Zumba on Tuesday and we will see what happens after that, but baby steps. I journaled my food today, managed to eat beyond my calorie allowance and was still hungry alllll day long. But I’m glad for the journal. If I had skipped it, I’m sure things would have been even uglier. As it is, I feel pretty solid about today. No major disappointments or successes and I met my goal of journaling. Now I can step into December with at least one semi-solid day under my belt. 😉
Here’s my student’s winter themed art work that I’m all gaga over. They turned out just AMAZING!