Resilience and sustainability with any food lifestyle is a necessary, challenging, and continuous process in multiple situations. A wedding weekend brings less than optimal food choices testing my power to resist and persist. Mentally preparing for three days of choices teeters on mishap and maintenance. Twelve weeks seems enough expertise and food choice proficiency, as well as twenty weeks of dumbbell wielding, boot camps priming my body for an elegant black dress, prepared for a thinner, trimmer me. Assessing whether my lifestyle is sustainable during special scenarios as weddings, celebrations, and holidays, are tests of my ability to adjust without thwarting weight loss efforts.
Friday evening, a smorgasbord of Italian fare decorates the table: fried calamari, chicken parmesan, spaghetti and meatballs, Caesar salad, and wine. Patiently awaiting Saturday night wedding food, I cultivate determination to make healthy choices. Eating salad, calamari with fried breading frayed off, and scraped breaded, baked chicken, I make smart decisions. Composure is kept at the dessert table when I “take the gun and leave the cannoli,” while tiramisu is left untouched and unconsumed. I eat salads and protein throughout the following day without incident. Feeling empowered of successful results invigorates me.
The wedding dinner approaches; I prepare to make some allowances purposefully. Choosing two ounces of red wine and at least six ounces of protein maintains stable, not off-the-rail choices. Yet the dessert buffet table offers extensive choices of candy and chocolate baked goods like those from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I choose the cookies ‘n cream cupcake, motivated by frosting rather than cake, a delicacy I dissect and limit total consumption. As a controlled decision, it feels good to choose and limit the amount. An inner voice says, “Choose what you really, really, really want, and leave the rest.”
I really, really, really want the frosting that rises out of this masterful cupcake. Eating frosting from a cupcake may sound as appetizing and strange as eating the inside of an Oreo®. Yet for some of us, that portion is all one needs for utter elation and euphoria. With jubilation, I ate the sweet, savory icing from the cupcake, journaling the quarter cup of frosting into My Fitness Pal and close the day out. By dawns early light, I achieve the honorable and survive a wedding weekend, making responsible food choices.
Monday morning arrives, boot camps are scheduled, detoxification of sugar is underway, and my resolve physically and mentally strengthens after leaning into the normalcy of life and a special weekend. Celebrations often offer less than optimal food options. Delicacies not designed with the body in mind, instead on behalf of the taste buds, hardly recognize their physical effects upon the gut, how they digest, and affect the waistline. Even with unique events, maintaining a commitment to a healthy lifestyle is possible. Empower yourself with healthy choices even in limited circumstances, selecting the unhealthy path occasionally.
Knowledge and perseverance for a strong healthy result, while eliminating destructive behaviors, is powerful. Although this weekend spotlights a successful outcome, the amount of energy and decision making it takes cannot be underestimated. Energy and determination utilized for overcoming vulnerability is necessary. Old patterns pounce when the armor cracks and fragility arises; sugar and alcohol fuels flames. With power tested, resilience won, and sustainability of a healthy lifestyle trumps the sugar! Testing power is sweeter when we persevere!