Breaking the trend

"Tomorrow, you promise yourself, will be different, yet tomorrow is too often a repetition of today."

     -- James T. McKay

Yesterday I was catching up on some TV shows that I've DVR'd while doing laundry and cleaning up the house.  An episode of "Criminal Minds" came on and the quote at the beginning of it hit me hard (thus, why I quoted it above).

I realized that that pretty much sums up how helpless I've felt in the middle of a cycle of eating poorly and ditching exercise.

I tell myself it'll be different tomorrow.  I'll eat better.  I'll exercise.  I'll take the stairs.  I'll pass up the extra calories.  And yet, when faced with those very choices, I've found myself not making the better one.

Truthfully?  This weekend has been tough.  As in REALLY tough.  As in, I'm doing things I haven't done in years tough.  While I don't want to get into the details, suffice it to say, I'm struggling.

I struggled all weekend - with my food choices and my exercise choices.  And those three pounds that I reported losing? Oh, I'm pretty sure that they AND some friends found their way back to my ample butt.

So what now?  What do I do now? 

Well, I could let this same trending behavior tie into each day this next week. 

OR I could change it.  Starting now.

Last night I made some amazing tuna fish salad.  Truthfully, it's more carrots, celery, and onions than tuna fish, eggs, and light mayo.  It's crisp, tasty, and healthy.  It's what I'll be enjoying for lunch this week.

I also made some great chicken noodle soup using whole wheat noodles (okay, I'm not really a fan, but they're edible), LOTS of veggies, some chicken stock, and some white chicken breasts.  That will be a lot of our dinners this week.

Most exciting, I've already exercised this morning.

Having a plan for today makes it so much easier to break the trend of overeating and emotional eating.

Having a plan makes me feel more in control.

And it helps me leave yesterday where it belongs...in the past.