Celebrate good times, come on!

Since I've gotten the job (YAY!) and accepted it, I took a few days off this week before giving my two week notice.  My company gives a certain amount of personal days at the beginning of the year that are ours to use how we see fit.  If we leave without using them, too bad.  So I'm definitely using up my days!

Unfortunately, as soon as you say you're leaving the company, you can't take those days off.  So I've had most of this week off - but I actually will be giving my two weeks notice on Monday.

Because I needed to give The New Company an answer, I accepted the job offer this past Tuesday.  I'm very excited about the company and the position so I was thrilled to be able to verbally accept.  My first day of work is going to be the 7th of March. 

If you did the math (February 14 + 2 weeks), you've probably noticed that it means that my last day of work will be February 28th.   That means that I'm lucky enough to have a full week off between jobs.  Two of those days will be paid for (my company will pay me for my unused vacation days) so I'm really only taking three days off without pay.  I'm so blessed that I can do that without the fear of running out of money!

Anyway, after accepting with The New Company, I called Joe to squeal with excitement.

"Pick anywhere you want to go to eat tonight and we'll celebrate!," he said.

I thought about all sorts of places that sounded really good and all the ways that I could indulge.  I could have wine, beer, an appetizer, and desert - everything sounded fantastic.  I literally was salivating just by thinking of all my options.

But then I remembered my decision to apply and practice mindful eating.

We went to Sweet Tomatoes (a salad buffet place) instead.

Once there, I loaded my plate with fresh veggies (I was really hungry).  I enjoyed about an 1/8 of a cup of mushroom soup (it was delicious!) and then had a dish of their fat free soft serve ice cream.  It was sooooo good.

I'm not proud that I went to a "diety" place.  Instead, what I'm proud of is that even though all those other places sounded good and sounded like a great way to celebrate, it's not really what I wanted.  What I wanted was to be able to enjoy the meal with Joe.  I wanted to discuss how happy I was with accepting and how I have some reservations about what to say to my boss.  I wanted to not feel rushed.  I wanted to eat something with a lot of veggies in it - since I hadn't had any all day.  I wanted to go to a place where I wouldn't leave heavy and stuffed full.  And I really wanted a place that had a sensible desert option.

So, really, I got exactly what I wanted.

I think the problem with the concept of mindful or intuitive eating is that I get caught up in sometimes wanting it to be a free-for-all.  I want it to be this magical plan where I eat whatever I want whenever I want it and that I drop pounds like crazy.

In reality, there still has to be a trade-off.

Yes, I *can* have dessert after every meal.  But it means that the pounds may not be flying off (if at all) that week.  Yes, I *can* have sugar at every meal.  But that means that I'm still likely to have sugar headaches and to feel lethargic.

I'm thrilled to say that eating as mindfully as I have (not perfect, but a far cry from where I was even last week), has helped me feel way better than I have been feeling.

I've had more energy and I have enjoyed feeling more in control of my food, versus being controlled by my food and cravings.

And if that isn't a reason to celebrate, I don't know what is.

*I LOVED "Celebration!" by Kool and The Gang when I was a kid.  Who am I kidding?  I *still* love that song. :)