FREE DAY -- YEAH!

Sorry I got behind last week -- bad internet connections, sick babies, and not having a computer all caught up with me. But we're back on track now, and I'm excited for another week.

How are you doing? How is your water intake? Are you drinking a glass of water before each meal? Did you take a day and TRACK EVERYTHING YOU ATE to see where you are, on average, and make some goals about where you need to go? I did -- and I was surprised by the results. What about the recipe of the week -- did you try the meatloaf? Did you like it? My friend Stephanie commented that she made it for dinner for herself, her husband, and their friend with success! It's really a favorite of ours, as is the next recipe I'll post tomorrow for the new week!

So - today's post: FREE DAY!!!!

I think with all of the talk about counting calories and making sure our bodies get enough and deciding what we are willing to give up and what we aren't made me think about LIMITING versus INCREASING. The truth is, if we are going to be successful, we can't feel LIMITED in our choices, options, favorite foods, etc. HOWEVER, let's face it: We didn't get where we are by having occasional splurges here and there. So, we aren't going to get past it without cutting out the daily splurges and making them MORE MEANINGFUL by regulating how often they occur. Might I make a suggestion? PICK A FREE DAY EVERY WEEK TO EAT WHATEVER YOU WANT -- GUILT FREE! That's right; that's what I said: WHATEVER YOU WANT -- ABSOLUTELY GUILT FREE! Some of the most successful diets I have researched have some sort of "FREE" day or flexibility in the food routine, so you feel FREE instead of RESTRICTED and have the strength to see it through on HARD DAYS.

The key here is that you have ONE FREE DAY, not a free ticket to use whenever you want to splurge! ;-D That's where you get into trouble and start losing the progress that you work so hard to get the rest of the week.

How will you make sure that your FREE DAY is actually working FOR YOU AND NOT AGAINST YOU? You need to be TRACKING what you eat each day and making sure that you only have ONE FREE DAY A WEEK. If you're like me, you have to sit and really think hard to remember what you DID yesterday, let alone what you ate. So - if you keep track, write it down in a place that will be easy to access and stay on top of, all you have to do from week to week is look to see if you've had your free day yet. OR, BETTER YET, pick one day a week to be your free day, consistently, and just change it on weeks when you have a special occasion -- birthday, anniversary, etc.