Day 8, 9, 10 & 11: A Win, A Loss, & A Reminder to Go Back To The Original

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, have not been my typical days. I’ve eaten, mostly, while walking. Yesterday it meant I spilled tomato sauce from my eggplant wrap all over my thrift store Banana Republic pants. The pants I wore yesterday and the pants I am wearing today are each pants I bought with my parnter a few weeks ago at a thrift store. Each were a little tight when I put them on, but for all intensive purposes “fit.” Today, they fit WELL. I’m not sucking in my gut to get them on, and once they are on, they are not sucked against my stomach and hips. This is the first in, what I hope are, a line line of victories.

Obviously, the previously mentioned ability to wear pants that were almost too tight is wonderful! It shows that the scale isn’t lying when it tells me I lost 5 pounds, and it’s physical proof that makes me feel much better about my body and routine.

And then I made a terrible error.

I was at Elm City Co-op (a market near my work) to purchase some lunch, when I walked past the meats. There were samples of buffalo chicken sausage and petite sirloin steak. I gave into my deep seated desire to squelch my hunger for meat… and I ate two tiny cubes of meat. And then a third.

I also purchased a half pound of petite sirloin steak. Now, to be slightly fair, this is for… “romantic” reasons. My partner is coming to visit for the weekend, he eats meat, and I have a lot of tomato chutney that I want him to try. I bought some sharp cheddar and green beans to accompany the steak.

Steak. Will. Not. Help. My. Diet.

This isn’t news to me. Really, it’s the fact that I’m making meat, when my original intention was to a eat whole-foods, plant-based diet.

I looked back at the Engine 2 Diet, and they only want people to pledge 28 days. For some reason, I thought it was two months. Now that I’m about two weeks into this diet, I’m going to make a new pledge. I think that four weeks are manageable. I want to jump start this diet, and I think that four weeks of whole-foods, plant-based eating plus lots of walking and some extra exercise as well WILL push me into the place I need to jumpstart eating well.

One month isn’t forever. 2 months felt too long, but one month feels doable to me. I need to remind myself that this is for a good reason. I don’t have to keep it going for more than 4 weeks. It just has to kickstart. I can do anything I put my mind to, and I have to remember that when things get tough, I shouldn’t give in, I should keep pushing.

I have some food based fun activities planned with my partner for the weekend. Saturday morning we’re going to pick apples and pumpkin or squash, and I’m going to make an apple pumpkin (or squash) cheddar soup. I’m still going to make the steak for us for Friday night dinner.

And then once all of that is gone, I’m going to rock the next month. I’m going to seriously push what I’m eating and I’m going to document it on this blog.

An old friend of mine posted this on my facebook wall the other day, and it’s what initially made me think of switching back:I can, and will, do this.