WEEK 8: Recap

My luck (and hard work) held, and I survived my vacation with my diet intact!

The rest of the week went smoothly, and in fact, this week away on vacation was easier than last week when I was transitioning from actively on the Beck Diet Solution to this strange limbo of dieting alone.

Part of the ease of this week was because I was on vacation, even though that's the opposite of what I'd expect. I went to Las Vegas, a city renowned for its decadence and debauchery, but once I was there, away from the pressures and activities at home, it was easier to focus on my diet. Certainly there were more temptations to deal with too, but I handled them, I exercised, I read my ARC and other Response Cards, and I stayed on track! I have no worries that I'll meet my second 5-lb. goal at tomorrow's weigh-in.

I still have concerns though. One is that now that I am home and facing pressure and normal activities again, I have to figure out how to balance all of that with sticking to my diet.

And my other concern is bread. Yeasty, flaky, crusty, chewy bread. I love bread more than almost anything else I can eat, and of course it's one of the worst things for my diet. Sure, it would be all right in moderation, but when it comes to bread, I have no limits.

I didn't realize it at the time, but I had almost no bread in the first 6 weeks of the Beck Diet Solution. I don't know if it was luck or a subconscious aversion, but I just wasn't eating it or missing it. But that changed in the last week. While on vacation, I had bread a few times. It was in moderation (incredibly) and I did resist on one occasion (even more incredibly), but I'm afraid it will be a hard habit to break now that I'm home again. Maybe I'm Negatively Fortune-Telling, but it's good to be prepared to stop a problem before it starts. So no bread for at least a week -- NO CHOICE.

Instead, I can satisfy myself with my new clothes! I went on a shopping spree with my Credit Account and found some beautiful things in my new size. In fact I spent more than twice my credit account allowance, but all for a good cause. The only "non-essential" item I picked up was a dress like this one, except in black. I can't imagine where I'll wear it, especially since the warm weather is already turning cool and because my arms are still too flabby for a sleeveless outfit. But this dress makes me feel so thin and beautiful, there was no way I was walking out of the store without it. And every time I think of it or wear it, I'll be reminded of how far I've come on my diet. So it wasn't so "non-essential" after all, I guess.