Routine

In my opinion, having a routine is one of the essential ingredients in a weight loss success story. Honestly, the fewer choices I have to make about food on any given day, the better. Monday through Friday is very routine for me. Even though I'm not exactly happy at my job, I can pretty much expect the same things to occur each day I spend in my cubicle, which is a good thing:

8:00-10:30: Reply to mean emails, avoid treat table
10:30: Eat a snack
10:35-12:00: Reply to mean emails, avoid treat table
12:00-1:00: Go home, eat lunch
1:00-2:30: Reply to mean emails, avoid treat table
2:30: Eat a snack
2:35 -4:00: Reply to mean emails, avoid treat table
4:00: Eat a snack
4:05-5:00: Reply to mean emails, avoid treat table

Weekends throw me off. Although we make tentative plans, there is no set schedule to tell me when and what to eat. Everything seems haphazard and spur of the moment, even though it's not. It's just because I'm out of my routine that things seem crazy. As you may guess, this poses a problem.

On Saturdays, I do a long run, which makes me feel ravenous the rest of the day. Out of a sense of entitlement and also real, physical hunger, I allow myself to eat more on Saturdays. This usually means we'll go get a huge salad and the world's best cupcake at The Mixx. It never ends there, though. Saturday night there was the Chinese buffet. Sunday, we went to our favorite Indian buffet. Oh, and let's not forget two trips to TCBY, the bag of Reese's Pieces at the movies, and the spicy Italian sub and giant cookie I ate for dinner last night.

Needless to say, I spent much of the weekend in a self-induced calorie coma. It doesn't feel good when I do this. I enjoyed the salad and cupcake, but after that, everything was a blur. As we drove to the Chinese buffet on Saturday night, I felt like I was about to steal money from my grandma to buy drugs or something. It was a feeling of pre-regret, like I knew I was about to do something really, really wrong. I did it anyway.

Today, my body is trying to rid itself of all the toxins I fed it. "Monday Detox" is becoming a regular occurrence. This can't continue. While I understand the need to have an occasional indulgence, this doesn't mean I need to go completely nuts all weekend long. My goal for next weekend will be to avoid buffets. Baby steps.

This is a learning process, and even though I've screwed up countless times, I bounce back and start again. I haven't binged in a week, which is a pretty long time for me. The "it's not in here" note on the refrigerator is still working its magic.