Day 4 of 100: Boundaries and Wedding Dresses

First of all I want to share the wonderful day I had with my daughter.  We went wedding gown shopping (her wedding is in September in Tuscany).  She had already tried on at least 75 gowns on her own or going with her girlfriend and future sister-in-law.  She said she didn't think she would ever have that "bridal moment" and would just find a pretty and flattering dress.  This is the first time I had gone shopping with her, and I am touched I was part of that bridal moment that she did, indeed, have.  She tried on a dress and her cheeks turned red and her eyes welled up.  She tried on a half-dozen other dresses and then went back to that one.  The minute she slipped it over her head she started crying.  That was her moment.  SOLD!  We did go to another place and between the two, narrowed it down to three dresses, but I told her that her reaction should carry as much - and MORE - weight than any other features of the other two dresses.  My husband asked what it cost.  My answer: Don't ask!  It was within budget and 15% off because it was part of a trunk show... but alas, $1000 more than the other two! lol  Doesn't matter. 

We went to lunch in between salons and I found out that her fiance is doing Weight Watchers and she is following along - she got a really neat program (I forget what the name of it is) where the two of them sync their phones, so if she decides on a recipe it generates a shopping list, which he then gets (if he's doing the shopping on the way home from work) and it checks off the groceries as he gets them.  It also allows her to put checks on the shopping list so he will know he doesn't need to get something.  Really cool... If anyone wants to know what it is I'll find out.  She made a lentil soup from the WW site that she said was fantastic - I'll have to get it from...  we love lentils here!

Okay - so today's "lesson" is about setting boundaries instead of rigid rules for your diet.  There are lines in the road - and some roads are wider than others, and some roads have wider spots than other places.  Following an eating plan is learning to try to stay in your lane - there's wiggle room, and indeed there may be days you drive off the road all together, but that doesn't mean you will drive into the woods and get totally lost (well some of us do some of the time! - but it's not the best way to get where you are going!).  Very few people drive down the road without going a little to the left or a little to the right, even if for most of the way you are straight in the middle.   Unless a road is under serious construction - you will never have a lane that is ONLY the width of the car - there is always room to move - but there are still boundaries.

When I had lunch with my daughter today I came very close to the edge of the line - I even felt the bumps as my wheels went a little over, but I didn't drive off through the guardrail!  We shared appetizers and one sandwich.  I don't think in my LIFE I've ever shared a sandwich.  So even though the cumulative amount of food I ate was just a little too much, I didn't run my program off into the ditch.  And that's the point of today's lesson:  I didn't run off into a ditch, I stayed within the boundaries of the road - granted right up to the line - and now I just go on to my next meal.  If I had been looking at this in terms of rigid rules (like really truly trying to count Points for the meal) I WOULD have seen myself as riding off in a ditch - with ensuing consequences - like eating stupid all weekend and starting again on Monday.  Instead of rules I thought of boundaries, and realized that I didn't do so bad after all.  Next time I'll try to drive more in the middle!

Anyway - I'm pleased.  Good day all around!  Now I just have to figure out the time line for this snow we are going to get tomorrow.  I might have to cancel my classes in the morning.  Because of the mild winter we have been having I didn't build a lot of snow days into the schedule, so I'm not too pleased... but alas... it's January - what can I do?

Enjoy your journey!
Miriam