The Daily Diary of a Winning Loser

Today, I maintained the integrity of my maintenance calorie budget, I remained abstinent from refined sugar, I exceeded my daily minimum 64oz water goal,

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Thursday, 25 December 2014

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December 25th, 2014 Christmas Day Edition

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December 25th, 2014 Christmas Day Edition

Once you know the truth, you can't un-know it. It's from where the expression "recovery is a buzz kill" comes. I've had many Christmas times in my past where it was a feeding frenzy from the moment I got out of bed until I dropped, stuffed and sick, and pleading "someone, please pass the Zantac." 

It is entirely possible to know the truth and choose to ignore it. I've done that before, too. 

The truth is, excessive food on Christmas or any other day, doesn't make anything better. It doesn't enhance the experience. It's an artificial alternative for the experiences and things that bring us fulfillment and joy. Maybe we don't know what the authentic things are, so in our search we find our substance instead. Then we beat our head against the wall doing it over and over again and expecting it to be the real deal, when it never will be what we're truly searching.

It's in this understanding where those of us in active recovery realize the truth and set our boundaries accordingly. I still get to eat, but with ironclad rules, specifically designed for me.

I started my Christmas morning with coffee and a plan to have a wonderful Christmas. I accomplished this goal. I did eat things I normally don't. I had stuffing and mashed potatoes with gravy. And while everyone else cut into the pies, I grabbed my sugar free personal size lemon pie, took one look at the calorie count and decided 1/2 was all I could invest.

I started getting a stomach ache not long after this, so I'm pretty sure my body was having a fit with what amounted to foreign substances in my system. The more I think about it, the more I believe it was the sugar free pie creating the discomfort. I have no idea what kind of chemical combination the creators of this sugar free pie used to make it taste good, but there wasn't anything natural about it, I promise you.

I took a short nap before embarking on the Christmas Day 5K around Boomer Lake. After the great workout and with my stomach feeling better, I decided to skip leftovers for dinner and instead, I enjoyed a cup of coffee while visiting with family. I arrived home late and still under 1300 calories for the day when I decided to throw together a late dinner of bean and cheese tostadas.

The gum chewing strategy while cooking worked flawlessly today.

When I reflect on this Christmas experience and what was great about it, the food isn't even a thought. (It really wasn't that good, actually--and I can say that because I was the cook!)

What was great? The time, conversation and love shared among family. And this tells me my focus was in the right place today. We'll all get together again on Sunday, this time with my daughters and grandson Noah. I can't wait!

I made a point to reach out for support and I made myself available as a support buddy for others. I enjoyed some nice text interactions with some of the members of the support group Gerri Helms and I conduct and a couple of interactions with non-group members, too.

I made it through because I made the elements of my recovery and success very important. I'm hitting the pillow (a brand new fancy pillow--thank you mom!) tonight with a confident feeling, knowing I did well.  And to me, this feels better than any past Christmas Day feeding frenzy.

My Tweets Today:


























Thank you for reading and your continued support,
Strength,
Sean
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