Temptation Island

This weekend was my first major challenge. I went back to my college town of Abilene, Texas to visit family and support friends for the annual Sing Song weekend. It's sort of like homecoming except all music and theatre... my favorite! It was a fantastic time of celebrating getting to be with people I love and spending basically entire days laughing. It was also a time of temptation.

Being back in Abilene brought with it a lot of desire to go back to old habits. There are places to eat there that you cannot get anywhere else in the world and of course, all of the things I love to eat lean towards the unhealthy side. There's a reason I hit my heaviest weight when I was in college. It's because we kept such hectic schedules and ate whatever was quick and yummy. Abilene is full of places that are the epitome of quick and yummy. Another reason is that while I had a lot of fun there, I also went through my darkest time there. I had to deal with and overcome a lot of sadness while discovering who I am and who I want to be. Just being back on my old stomping grounds brought back the memory of what I went through and yeah, in some ways I did want to turn to food. In a lot of ways it was like walking back into a bar after a few weeks of sobriety.

I promised when I started this that I would be completely honest so I can't lie and say I was 100% perfect BUT overall, for my first major challenge, I think I did an excellent job. At no point did I forget my ultimate goal. Did I indulge a little? Yes. I admit to having a few slices of pizza and a full meal at a hibachi grill. But I also walked right into my favorite bakery (a Friday tradition for basically all four years of college) and didn't buy anything! That to me is completely smashing through the second obstacle that stood in my way... going back to sugar. I was able to stare my greatest food love in the face and say "You know what... I don't want to risk it". I didn't want to risk what could happen to my progress if I gave in.

The biggest thing I had to remember during this time away was that there is no shame on this journey. If I am not completely perfect the entire time, it's OK! As long as I get back on the next day and continue as best I can, I'm still doing a great job. It's not about being the best and the fastest, it's about reaching my goal at whatever point I can. So even though I wanted to shame myself for eating a few things I wouldn't on a daily basis, I have to focus on the positive that I did this weekend and remember how amazing I did as a whole. What a great end to a first challenge!

Yeah, I went to Temptation Island. I went... I saw... I conquered.