Day 41: Recover & Regroup

It's been a busy few days around here, culminating in the 2-year-old's birthday party yesterday afternoon. We had about 25 people here, including 4 kids, and everybody had a wonderful time. Our daughter Maya was delighted to have all 4 of her grandparents here, her aunt & uncle & 1-year-old cousin, and other neighbors and friends. Our friend Izumi from Tokyo played Maya's current favorite song on the piano (the theme from "Ponyo") and then everybody sang Happy Birthday. We let Maya stay up past her bedtime, then she happily went to bed and we heard her singing to herself as she fell asleep, "Happy birthday to you... happy birthday to you... happy birthday to you..." I feel truly blessed to have such wonderful friends and family and a great little kid.

From a PCP standpoint, I did really well. I got my workout done in the early morning, then stuck absolutely to the diet through lunch. The party started at 4, and from that point on I ate only fruit & veggies. (I made sure there was plenty of both on the table, along with the sandwiches and cheese and meatballs, etc.) I had one bite of birthday cake, which was so delicious, so rich and so satisfying that I didn't even want more. I forgot to eat my evening egg white & milk -- the last guests didn't leave until about 10pm -- but I'm okay with letting that slide a little bit. My perfectionist tendencies tell me that I should have kept exactly to my PCP diet NO MATTER WHAT, but when I think realistically about it, I think I did great. I had a houseful of guests to tend to and lots of un-PCP food around, and I managed to stick to fruit/veg and have a wonderful time.

So many people told me how great I looked and asked what I've been doing to lose weight. I usually said, "Oh, you know, boring stuff like exercising a lot and changing what I eat." When people asked for details I told them, and it was fun to watch the shock on their faces. "Wow, that's really strict! No sugar? No alcohol??" It's amazing how I'm not really feeling deprived anymore, because the rewards are really wonderful. I had a fabulous time at the party, and I didn't really miss what I wasn't eating. I was actually focused on my guests instead of what I was going to eat next.

And now it's the morning after, and I'm back on the PCP track. I'm so happy that an unusual day like yesterday doesn't mean I'm tempted to throw the whole thing out, like I might have in the past. Today it's just, okay, back to business. Since my in-laws are visiting and sleeping in the basement where I normally work out, I didn't work out this morning and I'll do it later in the day instead. Had my normal breakfast while everybody else had pancakes, and it was fine. Looking forward to a lighter exercise day again tomorrow, and to seeing what the next week's diets will bring.

I'm posting a few pictures of the birthday party below. Hope everybody has had a great weekend!