Chalking today up for a win on SO many levels

Image courtesy of The Stock Exchange

Today was a good day. Not just exercise and eating-wise, but on other levels too.

A couple of friends were having their "minus-1th" anniversary do - which, translated, means that they've finally set their wedding date for this time next year, and since they didn't have an engagement party? Well, this is going to be their Minus-1 anniversary!

The party took the form of a casual meetup at Mission Bay - one of Auckland's beautiful beaches - sitting around, chatting, singing, eating, enjoying the sunlight (with sunblock, of course). And while I was looking forward to catching up with folk I hadn't seen in a while, I wasn't sure how well I was going to be able to deal with all the omnipresent junk food I was almost certain was going to be there.

So I sat down, beforehand, and had a think about strategy. What did I want to end the day having actually done? What did I *really* want to enjoy if I had the opportunity, and what could I happily sacrifice to stay in balance?  What could I do in advance to make sure I wasn't likely to blow out, but if I did blow out, it wouldn't be a big drama?  And if I felt like using today as a treat day (because it felt like a good occasion to do so, given the context), what kinds of treats did I want to say yes to, and what other kinds did I want to say no to?

The first thing I decided was that I was going to walk there. If I took a direct route, I could get there in a little over 7km, but I decided that, since I hadn't organised a long walk this weekend, I might take advantage of being over in another part of town, and actually plot a twisty, turny route through some nice streets with some awesome views, and then along the waterfront to the beach where the meetup was happening. I was aiming to get something around 15km (9 miles and change), but the route I picked ended up a little under that. No worries, it was still a great walk - one that burned something in the realm of 900cal - and I enjoyed it immensely for its own sake.

Another major win about it, aside from the inherent enjoyment, was that it involved a couple of major hills, one of which was steep and long and had been a major slog (complete with gasping, wheezing and emphysemic budgie impressions) to walk up last time I did the route back in... February, I think.  This time? No worries. Yes, sure, I knew I was going uphill, but I didn't find myself having to slow down to deal with it; and according to my Garmin, my HR never broke 145 the entire way, which means my impression of finding  it easier this time wasn't just subjective.

Once I got there, the first person to greet me (someone who hasn't seen me in six months, and whose opinion means rather more to me than I'd like, but that's another story) sprang up to give me a hug and the first words out of her mouth, "Wow, you look FANTASTIC!"  I just stood there, hugging her for a moment, absorbing the compliment, and not feeling any desire to block it or shrug it off. It was... really nice.  And definitely another win.

Foodwise, I'm really happy with what I ate and the balance I managed to maintain. I took part in what I wanted of the unhealthy stuff while I was there, but only a little of each thing, making sure to enjoy each mouthful mindfully; and I grabbed a basically healthy lunch that still felt like a treat despite all the other tempting options on offer around me.

And for the most part? Food *wasn't* my internal focus during the gathering. I chatted to folks I hadn't seen in ages and caught up with what was happening in their lives. I sang when one of the guys brought out his guitar. I just enjoyed being *social* for a bit, after entirely too many months of not having the emotional spoons for larger gatherings.  That's quite an achievement too. See, previously, if social occasions coincided with a time that I'd been wrestling with the "beast" of my disordered eating episodes, the occasions would become all-or-nothing events where I either held onto my control over what I ate with white-knuckled, tightly-clenched fists... or I just threw it all away for an evening and had whatever was there, regardless of whether my body actually wanted it or not.  Either way, food ended up being my major focus the entire time I was there. Today wasn't like that.  I knew what I wanted the overall results of the day to be, and I was willing to trust my body to fill in the specifics by letting me know what it wanted me to do and when.

So yeah. Results?  I had an awesome walk, spent a lovely afternoon being social, AND I totally met my goals around eating, exercise and balance.  There's no way a day like that doesn't get chalked up as a win.