eDiets Lifestyle

Editors Note: The following excerpt is taken from Laura McBride's journal.

Laura began her journey to weight loss and fitness with eDiets in May 2008. She follows the Glycemic Impact Plan, and works closely with eDiets experts who have helped her lose over 20 pounds as of November 2008. Laura continues to make progress, and we are sharing her inspiring story with her permission.

By Laura McBride

Just like life, isn't it the little things that can trip you up when you're trying to overcome something big? Overall I've got the gloves on (literally -- as I box twice a week) ready to fight this weight war. I'm ready to face this thing, look it dead in the eyes. Bring it on!

And as fast as that you can find yourself on the ground, dazed, with little cartoon stars circling your head, crumbs of your favorite goody stuck on your chin and you say, "Um, what just happened?"

A food blackout has just taken place.

Take for instance one night this week. One thing that has helped me -- and I highly recommend it -- is that my husband cleans up the food and dishes. It's something we started a long time ago and agreed that if I cooked, he cleaned and vice versa. It works well, but of course there are some nights when I do find myself cleaning up. Wednesday nights is one of those nights when typically dearest husband has something he attends pretty regularly and such was the case this past week, so he had to leave me to clean up the evening meal.

Now, mind you I had done well with the meal I had just eaten. I measured my steak, I had my veggies, I cooked couscous instead of the mashed potatoes I'd made for everyone else (delicious I might add, if you've never tried it and it's a great alternative to refined carbs). No prob! I was full, I put Entertainment Tonight on TV as I cleaned and put food away and all was well. Surely I can resist when I have a full stomach, right?

Wrong.

So there I was busily loading the dishwasher, putting the steak away, and watching Mary Hart dish gossip. And then, there it was: the garlic bread smiling up at me, all innocent. Now you chocoholics are saying, "so, what's the big deal?" but to someone so fond of carbs that I could take a bath in a tub of pasta and a good sauce, it suddenly was calling my name ever so sweetly, so cunningly. I looked to my left and realized my son was gone. I looked to my right and saw my husband had already left as well. The house was empty, and there I was left to my own devices.

Somewhere I really did hear a voice in my head that said "put it away fast!" And I know I was trying to say, "Get thee behind me Satan, you little evil pieces of bread," but before I knew it the luscious golden circle was in my mouth melting into deliciousness.

Oh how the default button gets pushed so easily if we are unaware and we are back in the old mind set before you can hardly think twice. In a nano second yet another piece had crossed my lips lickety split...and then shortly after that, I awoke to find myself at the sink, eating the last of the mashed potatoes -- you know the part on the bottom that has a nice little brown crust on the pan? Yup, right out of the pan, girlfriends, she doth have no shame. Guilty! I admit it.

That's when I woke up, shook my head, cleared my mind out of the food coma and got a hold of myself. What in the heck had just happened after I had carefully eaten the proper meal?

Yes, my first thought was that I was disappointed with myself, but I think I almost chuckled too with how fast it all had happened -- and in realizing how much a person can ingest simply cleaning up the kitchen. Holy calories, Batman, no wonder I was fat!

But what really showed that I am changing this time is that I didn't go down the ugly dark road in beating myself up (generally followed by "Whatever! I've-blown-it-already-I-might-as-well-REALLY-enjoy-myself."

Nope, I dusted off my chin, held my head up, took a deep breath and cleaned what was left of the meal without sneaking any more. So I took one for the team that night and continued on without looking back. I am happy to report I have stayed on program since then and that, my friends, is real progress. In fact, I dare say I've never gotten back on the horse so fast in all my dieting days.

So the lesson here is how we react to the pitfalls, the stumbles, the mistakes. We all are weak human vessels at times and we've just got to accept that is how it's going to be occasionally.

An "all or nothing" attitude will surely only make us heavier because we will inevitably fall. It is simply part of who we are. And we are learning and getting stronger every day even if it doesn't seem like it. Even in winter, after the leaves seem dead and gone, nature is still growing, changing, preparing for the next season. Learning the lesson feels good.

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