The Bodice Challenge, Day 3

Blood Pressure (AM reading) 121/81

Breakfast: 1 serving 1% Whipped Cottage Cheese with a spoonful of homemade strawberry rhubarb jam mixed in and two small slices of stretch bread from Pastabilities. Beverage: Water

Lunch: And here, friends, we come up against one of my greatest challenges when it comes to food: the unexpected treat. When I'm eating at home, or going on a planned food-type outing, it's relatively easy for me to make healthful choices and stick to my goals. However, if I'm presented with a novel food that I wasn't expecting to be put in front of me, I lose my footing. I went to the first read-through for *Two Gentleman of Verona*, the play I will be performing in this summer. The read-through was at the home of the director. We sat out on the porch and read through the play. It was a mild afternoon and quite pleasant. I thought there might be some refreshments, but I wasn't expecting fresh-squeezed lemonade, iced tea, homemade chili cheese dip, homemade salsa, homemade french onion dip, and several kinds of chips. A stronger person than I may have been able to sit there and not eat any of the treats, but I hadn't eaten lunch yet, and I was hungry, so I let myself have some. I had one large handful of tortilla chips, one large handful of regular chips, and one medium sized scoop of the chili cheese dip. I chose the chili-cheese dip because it had beef and beans in it, and a smaller amount of that would satisfy me than the other dips because of the protein content. I did not have any of the French Onion Dip or the salsa. I had one glass of lemonade, and, if I'm completely honest, an ice-cream sandwich. When I got home I had a handful of fresh cherries :)

Creativity: As I said above, I went to the first read-through of *Two Gentleman of Verona*, the play I will be performing in this summer. It is set as an 1870's American Western. I have been cast as an Outlaw. Although the Outlaws were originally written as men, the director has chosen to cast them all as women. And yes, in the world of the Old West, the director envisions these "Outlaw Women" to be prostitutes ;) *insert, impish, devilish grin here*

Dinner: One medium sized plate of linguine with homemade vodka sauce, no seconds. One bowl of fresh cherries

Exercise: Skimmed pool, and went for a 22 minute walk with Michael :)

The hardest part about today came this morning when I weighed myself. I go in and out weighing myself, sometimes weighing myself every few days, sometimes only every few weeks or so. It's been about three weeks or a month since my last weigh-in. The last time I weighed myself, I was 153.6 lbs, for a weight loss of almost 10lbs since the beginning of the year. Yesterday, just for curiosity's sake, I stepped on the scale, and was stunned to find that I was up to 158.2lbs, a gain of almost 5lbs, in a MONTH. *blink!* What? This affected my mood for the rest of the day. I could not fathom where those 5lbs had come from, there have been no drastic changes in my food habits or exercise routine, I rarely if ever eat junk food. WHERE DID THEY COME FROM? The rational part of my brain did eventually kick-in, reminding me that weight can fluctuate several pounds depending on how much water you've imbibed and what time of the month it is. And muscle weighs more than fat, and I think I've put on some muscle after all lifting and carrying I did at the daycare plus all the yard work and such I've been doing lately. So, it was a shock to my system, but I'm getting over it.

Tomorrow is another day :)
Lynn