Weathering the Bumps in the Road

I have had a stressful couple of weeks to say the least (as far as my weight loss / maintenance is concerned). My husband had unplanned minor surgery (he is fine, but he was in the hospital for two days). And the day after he got out, my entire family came to visit from out of town. I love my family dearly, we were happy to have them visit, and we had a lot of fun. The "problem" is that they are wonderful cooks / bakers. This is fine because I planned for that much. When I'm around my family, I let myself enjoy the time - and that includes eating with them and enjoying their wonderful food. I am careful to moderate and not get too carried away but I know myself, and I know that I will go over my calorie budget on days I spend with my family and their fabulous cooking - and for me, that is fine. I have learned to plan for it instead of stressing myself and everyone else out with my obsessive calorie counting. (I still do count, as I discuss later, I just don't stress about it)

I had planned to prepare for my family's visit by having some low-calorie / high exercise days before they arrived and after they departed. I don't allow myself to spin completely out of control, I still have a calorie budget, I just raise it temporarily. This is how I handled the Holidays and it works well for me - I actually ended up losing weight over the Holidays.

My husband's emergency hospital visit put an end to my well-thought-out strategy. Not only was I unable to get in my exercise, the hospital food was - ironically - not the healthiest fare. I don't know if they were trying to drum up business or what - but the cafeteria food at the hospital was awful, fatty, starchy, calorie-laden stuff.  However, I was running on little sleep, I was stressed and worried, and I was hungry, so of course I ate it. I had other, more important things on my mind and I had to keep myself fueled.

Now my family has left, and my husband / work out buddy is on the mend, I feel like I am back on track, and I'm proud of myself because I actually lost a pound through all of it. 

My plan for the rest of this week is to continue to go a bit lower calorie, make sure to get in my workout every day. Then, this weekend, I will go for a couple of nice walks with my wonderful husband and enjoy what looks like a beautiful couple of days.