Water

I may have learned a new thing this weekend: the power of drinking water.

I know, you all are saying, "Helen, get with the program, we've all known how important water is FOREVER". You're right. I have known it intellectually, but I have never had a situation where I had a real practical experience...and, like with most weight- and food- and exercise-related things, I seem to need to EXPERIENCE the theory in order for it to (start to) sink in.

So, we went skiing last weekend. I am trying to do better with my eating and drinking on these weekends this winter than I did last year (when I weighed 15-20 pounds more than I do now). I am generally (like at home) not eating red meat. I am drinking not more than one beer a day. I am trying to keep the eaten-out breakfasts within a reasonable range. I am trying to balance -- when I've eaten something higher in calories or carbs than I usually eat at home, I eat less at the next meal. So far, so good (although I still have Xmas/NYE/Birthday lbs not completely gone)...

BUT, Sunday I had some ice cream after dinner. I had been craving it since my birthday and I made a conscious decision to eat it. Honestly, it was not very good and not worth it, but I knew what I was doing and was prepared for the consequences. Other than that, I had eaten REALLY well (even the eaten-out breakfasts which I always have to watch volume-wise -- and I had cooked dinner at the condo on Saturday night -- salmon and sauteed spinach and mushrooms, yum!).

THEN, Monday I made another conscious bad food decision for breakfast: corned beef hash and eggs...and a biscuit. The biscuit tasted like dry cake so I didn't finish it and the corned beef hash was SOOOOO salty. As soon as we got in the car after eating it, I had to stop for a huge 2-liter bottle of water. Over the next hours of driving, I drank two of those babies. And more that night. While I always have water on my desk as I work all day, I am sure I never drink that much regularly.

And, miracle of miracles, when I got on the scale yesterday (I left it at home for this short-trip weekend...maybe a mistake), I had only gained 1 pound. THAT is a miracle. One that I am not taking for granted, but am looking at the facts and figuring out how that happened...even with the extra exercise of skiing, I don't think I would have had that result without all that water.

So, glug glug, I just may have finally learned the lesson of REALLY drinking water...in fact, I need to go get a refill right now! ;-)