I have to share a little secret – I have been weighing myself every single day since October 17th.

And to make it worse? I have been tracking every weigh-in in excel. Oh yes, so I can make fun charts like this:

What does this all mean?

That I am about to get chewed out for weighing myself 7 times a week?

Actually, it means that I have been using the home scale since October 17th and have not stayed overnight anywhere since then.

Well, that is about to change! We’re going to Barbados!

Ha! Not! I wish. No, we are leaving for Iowa soon and will be there 5 nights and 4 whole days.

That is a lot of time away from the scale.

Dun dun dun… what is going to happen?

What usually happens when I visit family (or they visit) is that I lose all abandon and stuff my face silly. But these past few months we’ve had family over a few times, and I have been fine. In fact, in the past few months I have only had four incidences where I felt like I was binge-eating, and they were all at work.

So, I am feeling pretty optimistic that I can forget about that scale for (gasp!) 5 days and see what happens. I think I can have fun and eat reasonably. And I know I can fit exercise in.

But just in case, what are your tips for eating healthy when you are in a situation that normally triggers the opposite?

My tips are to focus on the company, not the food, and to drink lots of water.

My office’s Biggest Loser Challenge ended today. It began on January 21st and 22 people participated. There was a $12 entry fee, and $2 fee per missed weigh-in and per each pound gained. In the end, the money pot was $428! Do the math on that one!

First place received 55%, second received 25% and third received 20%.

I came in second place with a total loss of 14.17% and won $107. First place was 14.54% and third place was 13.99% (very close!). I stayed in second place almost every week of the competition, except for a week in third, and a week in first (after I was sick).

Now it’s time to stuff my face again!

Just kidding.*

Participating in this was interesting. It brought on a lot of comments and questions about my weight and appearance, which is not something I am used to. I felt uncomfortable at times, just because I was unprepared to react to that kind of attention. I wonder if that will all stop now, that it is over?

Overall, I think the Challenge was helpful with keeping me on track with my healthy eating. I didn’t feel restricted by it**; it was kind of like a friendly reminder. And I’ve mentioned a few times how this made my relationship with the scale so much better – it taught me that the periodical ups and downs don’t mean that much – you have to look at the big picture!

*Although, I did save myself a homemade cookie to eat on my lunch break, and I was kind of “meh” about eating it. I thought it would be orgasmic or something, after not having sweets since 2/25. Guess not!
**Although a few times, I did ask Steven if we could not eat out.