Day 15... #Winning

And the winners of the Now Eat This! Diet Cookbook are:



BrendaKay @ Little Rose Jacket



Sweetheartish  @ http://ohshenanigans.com/



Winners were picked using random.org. Please email me at skinnyhollie at gmail dot com with your contact information. Thanks



This has been such a busy weekend, with a lot of successes for me. I really feel like I am #winning. Warning... this is long.



Friday... I went to a friend's birthday party. Faced with party food, I did well. I ate a "sliver" of birthday cake, and almost had a panic attack. But it was ok. I felt good about my choices, and felt like at the end of my two-weeks I should be able to eat something sweet with no huge cravings. It was kind of a test... and I passed.



Saturday... Was a busy, busy day. I am pleased to announce that I am done with school. Saturday SHOULD have been my graduation, but I didn't get my fees paid in time to walk. But it still marked an important day for me. I now have my Master's of Art in Education. My best friend was graduating from another college, and her family had a big party planned. It was a taco buffet. I ate my taco meat with lettuce, tomato, and sour cream. I had a few corn tortilla chips with refried beans. And because of the cake sliver on Friday night, I skipped dessert.



I also would like to add that all day before the party I made good food choices. I left the house at 8:30 a.m. and didn't get home until 8:30 p.m. I packed food and water and made sure I was prepared.



Sunday... Let me first say that this is the absolute BEST mother's day I can remember having in recent years. My other bff, Max, also celebrated her birthday on Sunday, so after church on Sunday she took me and the kids out to eat. And I ate.



It was a conscious decision to eat what I wanted. I had only eaten a couple of scrambled eggs that morning, and I admit that hunger probably made my decision to ditch my diet a little easier. But I knew what I was doing.



I shared an entree with Max, and later enjoyed the gourmet cupcake my daughter bought me as a gift. And that was all I had to eat for the day. The carb/sugar influx put me to sleep as soon as we got home, then pretty much made me sick for the rest of the night. I had chest pains, stomach pains, and felt dizzy and tingly. It was scary to be so aware of the fact that my body was reacting to sugar in that way.



When I went to bed last night, though, I still felt successful. Even though I strayed from the rigid plan I had followed for the previous two weeks, I felt like I turned the page to "real life eating". Yes, I will continue to restrict carbs. But when holidays and special occasions arise, I will enjoy myself without freaking out about food.



Because of this weekend, I have decided to go back to Phase 1 for another week before going on to Phase 2. Today has been a success. Going back to low-carb hasn't been hard at all. It almost seems more like "normal" eating than eating sugar and carbs did yesterday. Honestly, I am glad to get that stuff out of my system!



My birthday is May 26, and I think this weekend has helped me put to rest a lot of anxiety that I've had about how I will eat on that day. I know what I did right this weekend, and I know what I would do different. I am learning, therefore I feel like a winner. I am still ON TRACK and very happy about the progress I've made.