It’s easier to not eat it than it is to work it off

This is my new mantra. Example 1: Last night at dinner, I had made a very healthy homemade lasagna. We came in from our walk, had a nice salad, and a portion of lasagna. After eating it, I carried my plate back into the kitchen for seconds. After all, it was healthy! It had cottage cheese and veggie crumbles! I cut off a piece and thought “That’s too much”. When I checked with my stomach I realized it wasn’t the one asking for more – that was my taste buds. I put down the spatula, washed the plate, and froze the rest for another day. Yes, it would have tasted good, but I didn’t need it. The fact that it was healthy didn’t make it okay to eat to excess, you know?

Cut to this morning for example 2: I’m dropping Butch & Carmen at the vet. Since I packed my breakfast I was eating later than usual, and I had to “drive the gauntlet” past a plethora of fast food places – with my tummy rumbling. Like I’m gonna starve to death in the 15 minutes it takes to get to work from the vet – please. I kept repeating that phrase in my head. I had a healthy breakfast packed and ready – yes, being hungry is uncomfortable – but delaying breakfast 30 minutes is no reason to eat junk.

I’m not saying starve to lose weight, but I am guilty of this A LOT. Namely, I use taste, convenience, or even my fitness regime as an excuse to eat. I was guilty of this when I was running a lot – justifying my extra food as necessary because of my running. Yes we have to fuel our bodies properly for exercise. It’s a fine line to fuel for fitness and still lose weight. I erred on the side of overconsumption. I am trying to make myself aware of it and prevent it. This is a long standing problem with me. When I was pregnant, I used my need for calcium as an excuse to make myself a vanilla milkshake every night. (Isn’t that a cliche – chubby girl using pregnancy as an excuse to eat way more than necessary.)

I have taken my exercise up another notch. I have this total blasé attitude about lifting weights – until I get to the gym. Then I’m all into it. I have the opposite with cardio – running and biking are a lot more fun in my mind than they are in the miserable humidity of a southern summer. But I’m doing more of both – go figure. Hitting the gym 3 times a week is easy now – I’m still working on making 5 the new 2, but I’ve worked up to 3 as a base. I’m getting up and walking/running as usual, walking at lunch, and I’ve added walking the dogs with the hub in the evening. The dogs are happy about this turn of events!

Hub is going to Pa this weekend. I don’t want him to have to make the trip alone, but I really vehemently do not want to go. I want to stay home. Should I be a good wife & go, or stay home? He says I can do what I want. It’s a “lose lose” proposition. Ugh!