The Proverbial Wagon

This past weekend is the kind of weekend that, not too long ago, I would have been beating my self up over falling off the wagon...

Friday night I indulged in a few glasses of wine after work. Saturday I had seconds of the sausages and corn on the cob we had for dinner. Sunday I had a bagel with cream cheese AS WELL AS a bowl of golden grahams for breakfast, a KFC big crunch combo for lunch and a large helping of Chicken Parmesan and Cesar Salad for dinner. I also then had some wine and chips with homemade guacamole while watching my favourite show. On top of this, I didn't participate in the workouts of my 90 day boot camp challenge on either of Saturday or Sunday...

After a weekend like this, who I used to be was likely to engage in a lot of negative self talk. I would spend my day wallowing in my lack of will power. I would be upset that the scale probably climbed (which it did a bit - I checked). I would complain that I fell off the wagon. Why oh why is it so hard to stay on the wagon? Why is losing weight so hard? Why do I suck so bad at this?

Well no more...

I did not fall off my wagon. My wagon kept running and I stayed firmly on it. Because my wagon NO LONGER LEADS to a number on the scale. It leads to LIVING MY LIFE - and that's what I did this weekend.

I spent Saturday outdoors in the fresh air enjoying one of the first amazing days of spring with my family. I ate delicious food off the BBQ because I haven't enjoyed it in months. I reflect back on my weekend and while I acknowledge that I didn't make the HEALTHIEST choices in terms of food  - I ask myself one simple question:

Did I enjoy myself? Did I make choices that made me feel good this weekend?

And the simple answer is absolutely.

Then there are no regrets. My wagon keeps rolling. Today I feed my body healthy foods that I enjoy eating. Today I will exercise because I do enjoy exercising.

The scale does not determine my value as a person. It does not tell me the good job that I am doing in all aspects of my life. It will never again ruin my day or give me any sort of assurance that I am doing something right. It is simply a number.

If we live our lives driven by a number on the scale then we miss out on so much of LIFE. I don't want to live my life thinking I can never again indulge in some of my favourite foods. What fun is it when we become so focused around our workouts that we can't take a minute to realize that things like digging weeds outside in the garden is also considered being active - even if it isn't helping me build muscle.

In other words - I had a fabulous weekend, thank you very much. I hope I have many more like it this summer. So today I congratulate myself on a weekend well lived instead.