Day 4: Feeling Empowered

So after I blogged last night, hubby called to let me know we were invited for ice cream at our friends' house. He was there with the youth from church (that's his calling right now) and the other adviser is my friend's husband. Anyway, she made ice cream for everyone and invited the girls and me to come join them for the treat. I really struggled with whether or not to go. It would be much easier to stay home and not face the temptation. But I wanted to visit with my friend, and they live almost exactly half a mile away, so I figured I could walk and get in at least a mile of exercise. So I put the girls in the stroller and decided that I just wouldn't eat any ice cream. We got there (and let me tell you, pushing a double stroller with two kids uphill is a lot harder than going jogging by myself) and of course my friend offered us all ice cream. Homemade ice cream. But I was already at 1500 calories, or close enough anyway. So I just didn't have any. At first I thought, maybe I could just have a couple bites. But I'm learning to know myself a lot more, and once I start, it's a lot harder for me to stop. I was so proud of myself for not giving in! I made a good decision, and I stuck with it! When we got home, I was kind of hungry, since I pretty much only ate carbs yesterday, which just doesn't fill you up as much for the calories. But I felt empowered by my most recent good (and difficult) decision, so I just had a big glass of ice water (probably another 16oz) and worked on crocheting a hat order (you can't eat when you're crocheting!)

Coming off of my big successes last night, I woke up this morning feeling empowered to make more good decisions. I made a delicious egg white omelet and had 16oz of water with it. For lunch I made a wrap -- with no cheese! I love cheese, so saying no to it is a BIG accomplishment. I had another 16oz of water -- hurray for staying hydrated! I did so well for breakfast and lunch, I decided to treat myself with a bibingka. I have no idea how many calories are in one of these. I've looked up a bunch of them and they all had such different information, so I decided to pick one on the high end of the middle range. That's about 400 calories. Apparently, I'm the only one at home that is going to eat these, and my grandparents sent us back with a half dozen of them. So I need to eat them when I'm doing well and feeling in control, or I'll end up eating all of them at once! They're a wonderfully delightful Filipino dessert, kind of like a buttery pound cake made with rice flour and shredded coconut. It's topped with some kind of cheese, kind of like a cheese danish. And they're made in a banana leaf. How could you turn down something made in nature's cupcake wrapper? Anyway, I had the last 4 oz of my almond-coconut milk and 16oz of water with my treat. For dinner I had fruits and vegetables (with ranch dip) at a women's activity I had at the church. Then came home and had a bag of popcorn while hubby and I browsed the interweb. I had about 24oz of water with that, and my calorie total was about 1200.

Since the last two days were spent recovering (read: using the excuse of feeling a bit under the weather to be extra lazy), the house was a total disaster this morning. I didn't get an official workout in today (besides a short walk to and from the church tonight), but I cleaned lots. That counts as something right? I logged two complete hours, for about 200 calories burned (I think), so I feel a little justified calling it exercise :)

Calories: check. Water: check. Exercise: check-ish. I'd say today was a success!

(P.S. Here is a picture of a bibingka. They're about the size of a big muffin. They're not as tall, but they're a lot denser. Anyway, they are absolutely delicious warmed up because then you can appreciate the buttery goodness. It's really easy to eat lots of this, that's why I can only have them when I'm really feeling in control. I still have four tempting me in the fridge)