Red flag

I had a red flag event on Saturday, my step-daughter's 21st birthday party.  The party consisted of a meal at a very nice restaurant in town, delicious food.  I don't mind telling you I was so worried that my resolve would be completely out the window.  I scanned the menu and wonder of wonders I didn't want to destroy all the hard work of the last few weeks and I chose a vegetarian meal.  And it was delicious!

I will admit to having the tiniest slice of cake though.  But in days gone by it would have been the biggest slab on the plate I'd have gone for.  I just wanted to be able to have the smallest taste being that it was a very special cake.  

And I made it through the night.  And I felt fantastic that I hadn't undone all my hard work to date.

So what I learnt from Saturday night:

1.  It can be done.

2.  And more importantly, I can do it (because I know it can be done, but whether I would do it would be another story).

3.  A good look through the menu will almost always find a better option (cross fingers).

4.  The feeling of euphoria you get from surviving a night of food is better than ... well better than chocolate cake!  :-)

5.  There's probably a 5 but I can't think of it right now.

So today I asked Mike to take some 'before' shots of me.  O...M...G.  I swore if he said any wisecracks I would divorce him.  They are horrendous.  Why is it that when you see yourself in a photograph it's way worse than seeing yourself in a mirror?  And I think a part of me inside died a bit when I saw those photos, melodramatic maybe, but I can't even bring myself to put them on here.  Not yet.  I know I've got to get real but I don't think you're ready to see a photo of me in my bra and knickers.  Really.  Maybe one day when you have an 'after' shot to compare, but not just yet.

What I will show you however is a photograph that was taken on Christmas Day 2011.  I was giving the dogs and cat their Christmas presents, and thank goodness the bag I was carrying hid a bit of the roll, but not all.   There have been a number of photographs in the past where I thought heck, this was my turning point.  But no, this one topped them all.  

Funny thing is, I like getting my photo taken, but only when I'm posing how I want to pose.  I have mastered the art of leaning over the back of someone sitting in front of me - that way you hide most of your body and you don't get a double chin.  Ha!  Apart from photos like this which are usually soon destroyed, I think I'll have a whole decade of photographs where it looks like I've become an appendage to someone's back.  

That's it for now.    Looking forward to a strong and positive week ahead.