Keep Away!

I just returned from a visit home. Every time I go there I swear I will eat well and exercise but I don't. Old habits return, I'm busy, and temptation surrounds me. I usually return from a 1 week visit with 2 or 3 extra pounds.

My mother watched me eat another handful of chips (or cookies or bowl of ice cream) and wondered how I managed to take off so much weight eating like I do. I said I have a higher metabolism now, more muscle, and I don't eat like this at home. But is that all?


I realized that just because I return to Indiana my willpower doesn't fly out the window. I never had it! At least not enough to resist certain foods. My trainer wrote a blog about how no one has enough willpower to eat perfectly in all circumstances, you have to have strategies.

My successful strategy is 'keep away'. I've come to recognize my own long list of irresistible foods and I just don't bring them into the house. If they do sneak into the house I may eat a few and then I ask my husband to either finish them quickly or hide them. At a party, I avoid being near them.

I'll have to work on better strategies for my visits home, but until then, I just work hard after I return to take off those 2-3 pounds before they decide to stay.