Fallen off the wagon...

Well I fell off the wagon yesterday. The diet wagon. I was doing so good, but those brownies were calling my name and frankly, I couldn't resist the call. I figure it this way...24 days of straight-edged dieting deserves one day of free-for-all...right? Well even if it doesn't, it is too late now. I guess I just need to right it down and get it out so that I know I made the decision to eat, but at the same point, I also need to know that I can't dwell on it, nor should I make it a habit. Getting back into a healthy lifestyle is hard and it is a big change and I guess I shouldn't expect myself to be a straight-shooter the whole time. Sometimes it is nice to have a cheat day. I guess I shouldn't exactly deprive myself either, or I will be setting myself up for total diet failure vs. a day of diet indulgance. Plus, I have lost 11 pounds so I shouldn't be too hard on myself! I guess what I am saying is that having a day of laxity in a diet is not always bad thing as long as it is only once or twice a month, not all the time. As an aside, I still think I am kicking butt in the department anyways. Before I would go three days of dieting and then have a horrible cheat day, then another four days, cheat, etc etc, so in the scheme of things I feel my dieting has been overly succesful thus far. I still have 3 1/3 months to go before my vacation and I am only 8 pounds from my goal weight, so in the entirety of my dieting goals, I am doing pretty damn well.

Here is a quick run-through of my before and current stats to date:

Weight:
Before: 154
Current: 143
Total Loss: 11

Waist:
Before: 29.5
Current: 28
Total Loss: 1.5 inches

Hips:
Before: 37
Current: 35
Total Loss: 2 inches

I also want to add that I have done some reading up about incorporating cheat days into my diet. Like once a week or once every two weeks and it actually helps to prevent/end plateaus and keeps the body guessing. If your body gets too accustomed to getting a certain number of calories a day the metabolism can slow and become sluggish, or it can kick your body into starvation mode if you are not getting enough. Now granted, 2000 calories a day is hardly going to put my body into starvation mode, but seeing as I am still breastfeeding it is more like I am eating 1600-1700 calories. Though this is not a dangerous level of calories, it is still low enough that after a while my body would become accustomed to this level and then may even slow down the loss. I haven't hit a plateau yet, but I can feel it may be coming so maybe this cheat day will help to bypass it, or at least, help to shorten its duration. I guess it is the same when they tell you to mix up your work out as well. If your body becomes too accustomed to a certain intake or exercise, it becomes more effective and it does not work as hard or burn as much, but throwing that little wrench in the cogs every once in a while might be enough to shake things up and help you to continue towards your weight loss and training goals.