back on the wagon after a break

I've made no secret about being on a diet. Since October 4. It's not fun, but it's not as bad as I was anticipating. Sadly, moderation isn't part of it. I've found that, when it comes to sweets, it's easier to have none than to have a little. So -- for example -- after Halloween when the kids had lots of candy, I didn't have any. I knew that I wouldn't be able to stop at just a taste. Even now, as I sit at my desk typing away, Blair has a bowl of M&Ms on her desk just a short reach away. I know that if I take any I'll take them all. But that's a spoiler. So don't read it.

So, as Thanksgiving came, I was trying to figure out how to handle the feast. Eventually, I decided to allow myself the one day break from dieting. Now, the fundamentals of this diet are that I am having no sweets, and severely limited carbs. So I found myself enjoying the bread stuffing, the mashed potatoes, the matzoh balls. And a large piece of pumpkin pie. It was a glorious meal. And I woke up the next morning with that bloated feeling I hadn't felt in a month and a half.

My diet daypass was over, but I was thinking about how I could extend it. There's leftover mashed potatoes, stuffing and  pumpkin pie. Surely it won't be the end of the world if I extend it a little farther until the leftovers are done. I was drooling at the thought. And no harm in a little extension to have some ice cream. And a twinkie or twelve... I think that was the thought that brought me back to reality. I was on a slippery slope. If I continue on it, there would be no picking myself up and dusting myself off. In the end, I didn't have a

ny leftover stuffing (gone Friday morning 'cause Ethan was hungry), mashed potatoes (still in the fridge 'cause I put too much salt in it) or pumpkin pie (still a piece in the fridge teasing me).


Of course, one good thing that came out of this is that I proved to myself that I can have the controlled exception and still get right back on the wagon afterwards. And, accordingly, I'm looking ahead to my next controlled fall. I have a wedding to go to on Christmas Eve. That'll be an exception. And, of course, if I'm having dinner at someone's house, it would be ungracious to make a fuss about how I can't eat this or I can't eat that. If I come over and you're serving spaghetti and meatballs, then I'm eating spaghetti and meatballs.


Now, all I need to do is have a dinner invite or a wedding to go to every night, and I'm good...