Everybody's Workin' For The Weekend
Ah yes, TGIF, am I right? We've all got that one person who basically yells this when they walk in the office on Friday morning, and if you are that person, stop. It's not 1995 anymore. But in all honesty, Friday's are pretty great, so is the whole weekend. Well unless you have a kid in sports and then you dread the weekend and would rather be at work. Instead you are listening to Sue talk about how her kid is going to be playing major league ball in a few years, but you look over and he's standing in left field picking his nose.
Before we had kids, Anderson and I were kind of lame and didn't have much of a social calendar. He usually worked weekend nights so I hung out at home with the dogs and a bowl of noodles and binge watched Law and Order or Ghost Adventures (don't judge). Having kids must have made us cooler, because now we have a ridiculous social calendar (or all parents are miserable so we all get together and commiserate, I haven't decided). Here is the problem with a full social calendar aside from having to find a sitter, pay a sitter, feed a sitter, find an outfit, actually wash my hair, and make sure my eyebrows are even: the food and booze.
The last three weekends, we have had adult events to attend. Don't worry, I can turn down cake at a kids birthday, but here are my last three weekends:
1: Wine Tour in North Georgia
2: Fundraiser at a local brewery
3: Cinco de Derby Party
As you can see, food and booze were present each weekend. While booze isn't on my diet, I also don't want to miss out. I have serious FOMO. Also, it was free, who turns down free booze and food? Not this girl! But being that girl has also lead to my roundness. So weekends are a struggle, but I have been going in with a game plan!
THE GAME PLAN
1. Eat a hearty breakfast
On weekends, I've been trying to eat a breakfast that is ultra filling as opposed to my smoothies. I feel like this will help keep me satisfied, and I can always do a smoothie as a mid-afternoon treat if I want.
2. Drink plenty of water before hand
I don't need to show up to these things thirsty, showing up thirsty in my opinion leads to excess drinking and snacking, so I've been trying to drink plenty of water before the event.
3. Pack my own food or eat before
If I can find out the food arrangements before hand, I can prep better and either take my own food or eat before. This keeps me from chowing down on things I really shouldn't.
4. Set a drink limit
Usually I do this if I'm the one driving, but here lately, I haven't been driving, so a drink limit has to be set. The only rhyme or reason I have to this is 1) how long is the event, 2) what do I plan on drinking, obviously different drinks will have different limits.
5. Don't over think it
I still want to enjoy myself and have a good time. If I sit there hungry or agonize over my diet, I'm going to be miserable. This last weekend, I just made sure I didn't stand next to the desert table, but still allowed myself a small treat so I wouldn't binge.
6. Take my medication and step away if needed
We previously talked about how when I get in social situations and I start to feel uncomfortable I find the food or drink and well, hide in it. I've always struggled socially. I know that sounds crazy to those that know me, but I have OCD. Not the kind of OCD where I need to wash my hands all the time, or have to flip a light switch five times before I leave a room. I have obsessive compulsive thoughts, which translates to, I think about irrational crap and second guess myself to the point of driving myself in to a panic attack. Say you and I are at a party, we have a really great conversation and share a few laughs. We end up not speaking the rest of the night because it's a party and there are other people to talk to. Hours later, my brain will start reliving our conversation and will pick apart every aspect it . Then it will find one tiny part of our conversation to agonize over and I, at this point believe you no longer like me or that I said something wrong and that is why we didn't speak again that night. You on the other hand will have totally forgotten this tiny part of the conversation. Now back in my brain, I've made a fool of myself and will probably guard myself the next time I am around you. Since going on medication five years ago, these compulsions aren't nearly as strong, and I've also developed some coping skills, but it still happens and if it starts while I'm still at the party, the binge begins. Recently, if I start feeling this way, I'll excuse myself and find a quite place and just be still for a minute or well, talk to myself and work it out in my head. So far this has been really helpful.
This weekend, I've got the kiddos on my own on Saturday, so I won't be subject to the free food wagons. But if I can just keep up this game plan on weekends, I know I can stay on track! Now I just have to worry about vacation in June...
1: Wine Tour in North Georgia
2: Fundraiser at a local brewery
3: Cinco de Derby Party
As you can see, food and booze were present each weekend. While booze isn't on my diet, I also don't want to miss out. I have serious FOMO. Also, it was free, who turns down free booze and food? Not this girl! But being that girl has also lead to my roundness. So weekends are a struggle, but I have been going in with a game plan!
THE GAME PLAN
1. Eat a hearty breakfast
On weekends, I've been trying to eat a breakfast that is ultra filling as opposed to my smoothies. I feel like this will help keep me satisfied, and I can always do a smoothie as a mid-afternoon treat if I want.
2. Drink plenty of water before hand
I don't need to show up to these things thirsty, showing up thirsty in my opinion leads to excess drinking and snacking, so I've been trying to drink plenty of water before the event.
3. Pack my own food or eat before
If I can find out the food arrangements before hand, I can prep better and either take my own food or eat before. This keeps me from chowing down on things I really shouldn't.
4. Set a drink limit
Usually I do this if I'm the one driving, but here lately, I haven't been driving, so a drink limit has to be set. The only rhyme or reason I have to this is 1) how long is the event, 2) what do I plan on drinking, obviously different drinks will have different limits.
5. Don't over think it
I still want to enjoy myself and have a good time. If I sit there hungry or agonize over my diet, I'm going to be miserable. This last weekend, I just made sure I didn't stand next to the desert table, but still allowed myself a small treat so I wouldn't binge.
6. Take my medication and step away if needed
We previously talked about how when I get in social situations and I start to feel uncomfortable I find the food or drink and well, hide in it. I've always struggled socially. I know that sounds crazy to those that know me, but I have OCD. Not the kind of OCD where I need to wash my hands all the time, or have to flip a light switch five times before I leave a room. I have obsessive compulsive thoughts, which translates to, I think about irrational crap and second guess myself to the point of driving myself in to a panic attack. Say you and I are at a party, we have a really great conversation and share a few laughs. We end up not speaking the rest of the night because it's a party and there are other people to talk to. Hours later, my brain will start reliving our conversation and will pick apart every aspect it . Then it will find one tiny part of our conversation to agonize over and I, at this point believe you no longer like me or that I said something wrong and that is why we didn't speak again that night. You on the other hand will have totally forgotten this tiny part of the conversation. Now back in my brain, I've made a fool of myself and will probably guard myself the next time I am around you. Since going on medication five years ago, these compulsions aren't nearly as strong, and I've also developed some coping skills, but it still happens and if it starts while I'm still at the party, the binge begins. Recently, if I start feeling this way, I'll excuse myself and find a quite place and just be still for a minute or well, talk to myself and work it out in my head. So far this has been really helpful.
Your OCD thoughts have described my brain perfectly!!! I'm loving your blog posts btw! :--]
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you're enjoying it! It's so comforting to know that other peoples brains work similarly!
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