it's not a negative thing

I've learned a lot this week.

I've learned about my body. I've noticed how it reacts to certain things. I've realized how much better I feel when I stick with the plan, and I've become even more determined to do just that.

I drank a lot of caffeine this week. It came in the form of lattes and a few diet cokes. Each caffeinated beverage I drank tasted divine, and I told myself there was no harm in drinking them. I would still drink over 64 ounces of water. I would stick with the plan and eat only healthy foods. And I did for a bit, but then I turned back to my old ways.

image found here.

There is so much research that says diet drinks lead to eating more and eating less healthy foods. I've always denied this to be true, but after three weeks of eating well, I now know that it is coffee and diet sodas that lead to my demise,

Those drinks also lead to acne - especially on my chin. And feeling bloated. And being tired.

It (almost always) starts the same way. A long week at work. A bit too much stress what with people, schedules, and (for right now) the process of building a house and trying to move everything around so I have time to move. Then I don't sleep well or enough. I feel like I need coffee - that green tea and water simply won't be enough. So I stop and order a skinny latte. At least it is non-fat milk and no whipped cream.

For a little while, it works. There is a surge of energy. And then there is a crash. And I'm thirsty. But water just doesn't sound good, so I choose something else that is caffeinated. The cycle begins again. Another surge of energy and then a crash. This time, though, the crash is coupled with dehydration.

After a few days of this, my chin starts to break out. I never put it all together until this week. Or maybe I did but I just didn't want to admit that there really was a physical reaction to too much caffeine and not enough water.

The other thing that happens is that my activity level drops. And then I don't burn nearly enough calories. Instead, I sit more and I eat more.. Two things that lead to weight gain and never weight loss.

I can't undo the past few days. I can't undo how many liquid calories I consumed. But I can move forward. I can chant the Bob Harper mantra that calories are not to be wasted on liquid. And I can drink enough water that I find myself going to the bathroom every 90 minutes at least.

I also can't undo how I ate. Not all my choices were bad. But there was one day I ate too much pizza. (At least, though, that was a day that I burned 3200 calories?) And another day when I went off the beaten path and hoped my choice would be healthy.. which it wasn't. So again I can move forward.

lack of activity

And my activity? I take this all as a reminder of how important it is to move. (PS: That picture doesn't have all my calories consumed entered. I was not that good.) It doesn't have to be running at the gym or taking a spin class. Just moving at work and walking helps. So does volunteering and packing boxes with food, which is what I did the day I burned 3200 calories and then ate pizza for lunch and dinner.

We're going out tonight with friends. Staying at a hotel, eating dinner out, drinking beer(s) and watching the hockey game. It would be easy to use tonight as an excuse to eat whatever I wanted. But I won't.

I've already done too much of eating and drinking this week. My calories can't take it, and my chin can't take the acne.

My plan? I think I am going to do by best to stick to Bob Harper's Skinny Rules principles. Some of them (like eating 10 meals at home) might be impossible since I am never home. But I am going to try. And I'm going to eat more salads - the healthy kind not the kind drowning in dressing.

Looking forward to a new week without coffee and diet soda!

image found here.

(title from "I Bruise Easily" by Natasha Bedingfield)