I have had an interesting few days!

My cousin came down to visit me for a couple of days.  She is 18, about 11 years younger than me!  It was fun having her around!

Goodness… where to begin?  So much is going on that I feel the need to catch my breath!

First, I didn’t get my exercise in the form of my usual workout but rather in the form of shopping!   And non-stop shopping at that!  Neither of us purchased much, but it was fun to window shop and dream.  I don’t do it that often, so I was really excited.  Plus, I knew it would help me burn calories (since while she was here I didn’t workout as I traditionally do).  I was surprised to see how many mall walkers there were!  I had always heard of mall walking but have never done it myself.  It was neat to see!  And actually gave me a good idea on how to change up my current routine.

I would like to say that I was able to stay spot-on with the  healthy eating program while she was here.  But I would totally be lying.  I took her to lunch on every single one of  those days (adds up to be 2 lunches out).  I chose exactly what I wanted to eat (rather than what I should eat).  To my credit, I split my meals in half.  I packed half of it up and then gave it to my husband.  I reduced the damage by half so I was pretty proud of that.   I made dinners relatively simple and healthy (so that’s a plus).  She got treated to a couple of days on the town (and so did I).  She also got the benefit of healthy meals from my home.  So I felt it was a win on all levels.

And another win was that I didn’t go for broke with the food (which the old me would have done).  This means that I didn’t say…. “Well, I have already had food that wasn’t really on the program, so what the heck… I might as well go for broke the next few days!”  Instead, I tried to find a balance within the situation as much as possible.

I had come to the conclusion awhile back that I didn’t want to live my life afraid of food.  This journey is not about denying myself, but rather it is about learning to make smarter choices and learning to control my portions.  I can choose to live my life in a box where I *only* eat a certain kind of food, but that’s not reality.  In the same breath I can live my life gorging on unhealthy foods and partaking in very little activity.  That scenario is also not reality.  So i’m finding a balance between the two (leaning more toward the healthy side though).  I have to give myself a little bit of elbow room (not a lot…just a little).

The best thing about her being here, is that I didn’t feel out of control.  I felt very much in control of all of my choices.  At some point, before I dedicated myself to this journey, I planned my life around holidays and family events.  As in, I never really felt there was a good time to start getting healthy.  Certain events would be on the horizon and I would think… “Well geez.  There goes my diet.  Why even try?”  It never occurred to me that I could modify as I needed to.  It never occurred to me that my life was not held in someone else’s control but rather in my own.

That is where I am right now.  Very much in control over what I put in my mouth and the amount of activity I get every day.

On the plus side, things are moving rather well with the house.  I dare to say that as of right now, it looks like all systems are go!  I am starting to organize and pack.  My husband and I are looking into getting a health savings account of sorts. I want to start putting a small amount of profit in there for health emergencies. Being self-employed means having to manage your own health plan. And if you have a big family, that is extremely expensive!

On a side note: My cousin went in to Hollister (a store that I am not normally very comfortable in) and I found some cute clothes (none that would fit of course). Finding cute clothes that I couldn’t fit into quite yet was also another motivating factor for me! I can’t wait until the day when I can walk into any store and buy whatever I choose and not worry whether or not they “have my size”.

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