Week 4, Project 17: Houston, We Have A Problem

Most of you know that I spent the majority of this past week in Houston, Texas with my sister and her gourmet French husband. I was hoping to maintain my Week 3 results, which had me at 130.5 lbs and 19% body fat. Unfortunately, I am back to Week 2: 132 lbs and 19.7%. UGH.

I am not making excuses, but I will color in a bit of my week for you. I arrived in Houston about 1pm on Tuesday. By 3pm I was sitting outside at an Italian café, eating salad drenched in dressing, followed by well-oiled pasta, and sipping wine. I recovered a bit when I saw the Egg Beaters in my sister’s fridge, the almonds in a canister, and my brand of English muffin in the drawer. Basically, I rallied during the days, but nights were a disaster. I ended my days like this: Wednesday with a vat of richly delicious bouillabaisse, Thursday with a hot fudge sundae, and Friday with a piece of meat the size of my head and a small hot fudge sundae. Every dinner is served with wine. Since I am not a wine lover, it became a mission to find one that I like. Mission accomplished. And there may have been some potato chips involved.

It’s funny to me now that I’m typing this post that I was actually complaining to Dan this morning. I was upset that I have worked extremely hard, only to lose a pound per week. I was angry that I managed to gain 1.5 pounds when I only messed up “a little”. Now, I have to laugh because, as I’m recounting all of my “sins”, I see that I’m lucky I only gained 1.5 lbs and .7% body fat. The lesson here is that recording what I eat is absolutely necessary for me. It keeps me honest and on track with my goals.

I did manage to get all of my training in while I was in Texas. I made some gains in my strength training, which I love. I had to wing it on my metabolic conditioning due to equipment differences, but I feel good about the results. And walking was a dream! The weather was beautiful, and I was surrounded by live oaks and blossoming azaleas.

Overall, I am just glad Week 4 is over---in terms of my fitness goals, that is. I knew it would be a challenge to maintain my diet. I just didn’t know I’d bomb it so dramatically. It’s so much easier when I can plan and have total control, but that’s not always realistic.

The week ahead is going to be interesting. I am a stay at home mom, but this week I am working full time as a substitute teacher at my daughters’ school. Getting in my training will tricky and eating is going to be interesting. I’ve got to stay on track: spring break is around the corner!