Day 7 Already?!

The past two days have been so hectic that I haven't had time to post much.  On the other hand, not keeping up with my daily count made it hard to believe that TODAY IS THE SEVENTH DAY!  I honestly can't believe I'm seven days into this.  Usually, I feel the end of the first week as if it took me nine months to get there.  I'll look at the calendar and think "UGH!  I've only been dieting for a freaking WEEK!"

But, I jumped online right now and seriously had to check my calendar and count down days on my fingertips because it honestly does not feel like a week has passed.  I can only chock the difference up to two things: 1) doing my Chubby Chick for Charity campaign alongside the diet is giving me something to look forward to and be excited about and 2) the unbelievable amount of support, encouragement, compliments and confidence from my current 23 followers has been unexpected and absolutely overwhelming.

It's too early for me to be sure, but I think this crazy idea of mine just might be working after all.  I just really, really hope it pulls me through in the long run.

So, Day 5 was a mix of ups and downs.  My job screwed up a time off request I submitted and then changed my schedule the night before without asking me or informing me of the change.  I didn't know anything until I walked into work and had to spend an hour speaking to management to clear up the mishap.  It turned out to be a good thing though because, since it was THEIR mistake, they had to let me work the shift I was originally scheduled for.  However, since they had already asked another employee to work my shift, I wasn't really needed to cashier.  SOOOO, they asked me to help by doing a more vigorous, labor intensive job.  Why am I happy about this?  I basically got paid to exercise, baby!  I was organizing items that had to be restocked on the shelf, pushing around heavy carts of merchandise, bending and lifting and carrying and walking for FOUR HOURS!  WHOOT-WHOOT!

That night was spent having a much needed girls night out with my closest friends.  I was nervous when they chose to go to Chili's, but was incredibly excited that I knew in advance so that I could prepare.  First, I ate dinner before I went, so that my appetite would be sated - knowing that it would be easier to resist temptation that way.  Secondly, I found a site online that provided me with the nutritional information of Chili's menu, so that I could plan what I was going to eat in advance.  Since we weren't going out until a coule of hours after I ate dinner, I settled on a cup of Broccolli and Cheese soup and decided to forego a drink.

I ran into a little problem when the girls decided that they wanted to order appetizers and share amongst the four of us.  They didn't know about my project yet, so they had no idea I was counting calories.  I honestly considered telling them and sticking to my decision to have the soup, but didn't want to spoil their plans.  Instead, I just reorganized my plans.  Not having the bowl of soup granted me enough calories to enjoy one frozen margarita.  As for the appetizers?  I had one boneless wing (sans sauce), one mozzerella stick (sans sauce) and 3 chips with spinach dip.  Luckily, the three girls attacked the potato skins before I even saw one, I was able to skip the burger bites (there were only 2 of them between four girls, so I let the skinny bitches have them) and then had a small bite of the egg rolls, just because I'd never tried them before.  All in all, I'd say my first restaurant meal was a success!

Day 6 was another pretty easy win thanks to work.  I was scheduled to work 8:45 to 4:45.  I had a small but decent breakfast and then - seeing as how I was running late - I grabbed a slim fast shake and a green tea for lunch.  Shortly after my lunch break, though, I was offered the opportunity to work a double, which meant working till 10 pm.  I accepted, on the condition that I could run home and make myself something to eat.  Normally, I would have just skipped my other meal, but I'm trying to follow the rules.  So, I ran home for a quick tuna sandwich and packed some carrot sticks and a banana for my next break.  In addition, they had me covering a department where I would be by myself - running back and forth between wringing up customers and climbing ladders to pull down heavy boxes and restock the shelves.  In other words - it was a very active 8 hour shift!

So, at the end of Day 6, I earned more money than expected, was more physically active than anticipated and had less opportunity to eat food that was inappropriate for me.  SCORE!

Day 7 holds it's own set of challenges.  Today, I go to my first party.  Scratch that - my first TWO parties.  That's right, I'm running the gauntlet of birthday parties today - with hot dogs, potato chips, barbecue pork, chili, candy, cake, ice cream...It's like American Gladiator for the Chubby Chick's will power.  I didn't even bother eating breakfast until I sat down with myfitnesspal.com and calculated all my choices.  Decided to pack in the protein with some scrambled eggs and then topped it off with some raw broccolli florets.  I had calculated in a banana as well, but was surprisingly full after the first two things, so I passed on the fruit.  I also ate a late breakfast - around 11 am - so that I should be going strong later into the day.  My second plan of attack is to pack some things that I can munch on that will probably be a healthier alternative to what the party planners are providing. 

Of course, this is not how I plan to attend parties for the rest of my life.  I hope there will be a time when my will power is strong enough to withstand a certain level of temptation without my going to such pre-planned lengths.  I also hope there will be a time when I'm at a healthy enough weight that I might be able to partake in some cake and ice cream without the guilt or trepidation.  But this is what I need to do for me at this moment in time.

So for now, Happy Birthday to You, and all that crap.  Now pass me my 100 calorie pack of almonds before I lick your cake!  Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha!