When I last checked in, I was recounting my first real lapse as I put together an Oscars dinner that blew the calorie budget. But as much as that was a bad day, it was far more encouraging to wake up the next morning and get right back to the routine.
Now that I’ve entered my third month of smart eating (I’m trying not to refer to it as a diet anymore), the losses have tailed off, but they’re still coming. This morning I weighed 204 pounds, meaning I’m down 26 pounds since I began this experiment. Over the weekend, I honestly said that I’ve got no cravings for fast food, fried junk, or anything that would have been high on my list on previous diets.
This afternoon I leave for a week in Las Vegas, and I’ve known all along that I won’t be sticking to the healthy eating while out there. But during a conversation with the owner of Energy Kitchen, Randy Schechter, he actually encouraged me to live it up while out there. I’ve heard much the same from others with nutritional backgrounds who say that the key isn’t indulging while I’m in Vegas, it’s that I get back to the program when I return. In the past, I’ve allowed one bad meal to become one bad day, and then one bad week and it spirals from there.
But unlike previous diets, I’m not dying to go overboard. Last year I was on Atkins from the start of the year until Vegas and by the day I left, I was like a man possessed, more anxious to get to the airport so I could eat McDonald’s than I was for the vacation itself.
My confidence is high that while my 1,800 calories a day will go out the window, it’s not going to be a case of three or four 1,800 calories meals a day as in the past. But as with this entire process, each new step is a test and a challenge. Here’s to hoping I’ve got luck on my side in the casino, and smarts on my side at the dinner table.
