"Tis one thing to be tempted, another thing to fall."

I wrote a nice blog post a few days ago complete with reviews of some lunch items that are super delicious. However, my computer decided to DIE before I could post it. Sad Theresa. So...that one will have to wait.

Let's talk about plateaus and temptations.

At this point, I am at the weight I have been for the past several years. I have serious issues with fluctuations, partly because I'm a girl, and partly because my body is insane. But right now is probably the "lightest" I've been for any substantial period in the past few years. Which is sad, and frustrating. But we're moving past that.

So I hit this weight, and everything kind of came to a halt. It's like my body was like, "Oh, wait, you want to go past this? No, no, we've been there before. You always come back here. So why don't we just stay here?" And so I plateaued for a good week or so. Which is INCREDIBLY frustrating. But at least I am mostly aware of the reasons why.

As most of you know, my life is INSANE most of the time. I'm at class/work all day, I do homework, and then I'm so exhausted I crawl into bed around 1 or so in the morning. This isn't really conducive to a regular, healthy workout regimen. My goal was to get up an extra thirty minutes early, work out, then get ready. And then I was supposed to do another thirty minutes when I got home. Funny thing, though, life happened. I weighed getting up vs getting an extra thirty minutes of sleep, and sleep won every time. And my homework has been so ridiculous, and I have been in the lab almost every night. I don't think I got home before midnight any night this week. (Besides tonight when the weather was like WHAT'S UP?! I'M GOING TO BE A TOTAL JERK!)

So yeah. I stopped working out pretty much completely. I still try to take the stairs everywhere, and I walk a whole ton when I'm on campus, but when I get home, I'm so beat it just doesn't happen. So I'm recommitting myself to getting up a little early. I'm going to TRY to be more on top of my homework, and get into a regular sleep schedule. At this point, I think three days a week of getting up early is a realistic goal.

While standing firmly on that awful plateau, I realized just how easy it is to fall to temptation. I'm not talking big scary things here; I'm talking stupid food that looks super delicious but is totally terrible for you. If you have ever been in Nott Hall, you know of Mrs. Batson's infamous candy jar. I've only fallen to that twice, and it was only for one or two pieces, but it's a slippery slope. When you go out to eat with friends, sometimes it's easier to just order like they do, but in the end you'll just regret it. If you have a goal, you have to do your damnedest to reach it.

Now, we're not talking about depriving yourself here. Last night, I wanted ice cream. So Autumn and I went. But the difference is, I got nonfat froyo, with fruit toppings. (Which, truthfully, is what I always get there.) But if I had been like, NO, NO ICE CREAM FOR YOU, I would have failed miserably. Eventually, I would have been like MUST. EAT. SWEETS. and gone overboard.

It really is all about moderation. And making the best choices. For example, I LOVE salt & vinegar chips. However, chips are not really good for you. So I found popchips at Target, and I'm completely hooked. A full size bag is only 360 calories, whereas a small snack bag of regular chips is usually over 200. 22 popchips is only 120 calories. And they are chips made of popcorn and are deliiicious.

But what do you do when you go to the chinese restaurant with your friends and you REALLY want sesame chicken?

You order it.

SAY WHAAAA? No, really. You do. But here's the thing; most restaurants are more than willing to accommodate your requests. I knew I wanted sesame chicken, and I also knew that fried things A. were bad for me and B. made me want to vomit. So I explained this to the super nice waiter and he was like well, we can just make it with steamed chicken. YES. So I got to eat my yummy sesame chicken without feeling guilty. (With steamed rice of course...don't you go falling off the bandwagon with that fried rice.)

I'm not saying we don't all slip up every once in a while. Trust me, we all do. But you have to realize that you can't let it completely ruin your day, or your life change. (See, no use of the word diet here.) You just have to be mindful of your choices, and think about your longterm goals. Tonight, I've been craving chicken wings something fierce. But I don't have any chicken, so I can't make healthy ones. And the pizza place chicken wings are awful for you. I debated just ordering them, but what's the point? I can make a huge dinner for the same amount of calories as a couple of crappy chicken wings. And then next week, I can go to the store and get chicken wings and make my own. Huzzah for knowing how to cook!

So there you go. Don't let plateaus and temptations shove you off course. Sometimes you might get a little lost, or hit a dead end, but there's always an alternate route to get you back on track!

I have to end with a picture, right? No, how about with some music. My old best friend Angie discovered Backseat Goodbye in high school, and I have been obsessed with him ever since. I have every album he's put out, and I think you should go give him a listen. Pretty much everything is amazing, but this is the song Angie and I played nonstop on the way to and from school.