Weekend update - Birthday Party Blues and Flying

One of the biggest fears I have had coming into this health and wellness journey is the social aspect - everything revolves around food! Of course, I had a birthday party for some family members this past weekend. Dustin has left town, so I am navigating this alone (and I have to remember that he is too!). I had a flight scheduled to be with him on Monday night, so I had this weird birthday party/travel combo looming that really had me worried!

I stuck by my motto of planning and preparation though, and I was able to successfully navigate this. However, it wasn't without its own set of drama. Let me recap...

The Birthday Party

I packed my own lunch and my afternoon snack for the time I planned on spending at the birthday party. My lunch consisted of a salad with leftover brussels sprouts from the night before, spinach, and onions with a small 2 oz container of dressing. Also, I had my blender cup with a packet of shake mix.

When I arrived, everyone was already eating and they pointed me to the catered Chick-Fil-A nugget plate. It was massive! I sat down and unpacked my salad and started to eat that instead. Almost immediately, I was confronted with "What is this? Our food not good enough for you?" I calmly explained that I was on a meal plan for my health and this was my lunch for the day. I got a snort and a scoff, but that seemed to be the end of that confrontation. After that, the next person came up and says "I heard you're on a DIET! Me too. Mine's called the see food diet. I see food and I eat it. HAHAHAHA!" I replied, "Yeah, I have done that one too, which is what got me into this mess! I am just trying to be healthier." This got a resounding "Why don't you just be fat and happy like us?" I sighed and kept eating my salad. I got comments about the onions on my salad and how gross that was, to which I replied, "Well, I guess it's good that you don't have to eat this then."  It was a long meal.

I never expected to get so much antagonism for just trying to be healthier.

However difficult it was though, I was proud of myself. I enjoyed the party, got to watch little kids blow out candles and everyone got to enjoy cupcakes. I abstained from the cupcakes even though they looked delicious. It's the little things like that where I feel like I am successful. I don't have to eat the cupcakes. The party will go on if I don't eat a cupcake!

My Flight

The last time I flew, I was extremely uncomfortable on the plane. I felt like I was overflowing into the seat next to me, and I was definitely blocking the seatbelt for my flight neighbor in the next seat over. I was mortified and sat in an awkward manner the whole time just to keep my body from seeping into their seat.

Because of this, I was not looking forward to this flight. I had an evening flight after work, so I had rearranged all of my meals so I wouldn't have to eat dinner at the airport - just some shakes and my protein bar. It was weird having dinner for breakfast, but it worked! Planning and preparation, right?

As I boarded the airplane, I noticed I was not bumping into people with my hips as I walked down the aisle. That was promising. As I got to my seat, I noticed I fit more comfortably and the overlap onto the neighbor's seatbelt was minimal. This is good! My body IS changing. I have been seeing the change in the mirror and on the scale, but it's these things that really solidify it. At this point, I have only lost 7 lbs., but I am feeling so much better. This new motivation helped me push through my layover airport with the amazing restaurant smells wafting through the air all around me during my 20 minute jaunt to my next gate.

When I got to my destination, my boyfriend came to pick me up. He looked slimmer! It was only a weekend without each other, but we have both changed. We both navigated through successfully (with lots of supportive texts and calls) and we persevered. I am so proud of the work we have done.


Weight today: 201.5 lbs.
Total weight loss: 7.28 lbs.