Dieting 101: Week 1: 
Being Flexibile is Key  - NLP, EFT

Tuesday: Worked out and ate as planned. Good day No. 2, this is easy.

Wednesday evening sister No. 2 calls saying we're celebrating family birthdays with a Friday night dinner out. Nobody requested traditional birthday cake (I'm the family birthday cake maker) so I'm bringing a blackberry cheesecake, while mom is bringing blackberry pie.

Wednesday evening I'm taking stock of the rest of this week and it's not pretty: The Thursday evening workout won't happen because I need to be baking and said I'd go to sister's thing (evening workouts are often waylaid); Friday evening is also shot due to birthday dinner at restaurant. To top it off Easter is this Sunday so most of Saturday I'll be shopping and baking. I already decided I want to make the "Almost Better Than Sex Cake" and scalloped potatoes. This is turning out to be a lousy week for my new getting in shape plan.

But, all is not lost. This is a typical week in a typical life. You must be flexible if you expect to lose weight and keep it off. You're always going to be confronted with the unexpected occasions, birthdays, parties, special events where they have that yummy goody you just can't resist.

Saturday: Ate well, did my exercise as planned. Shopped for groceries for Easter dinner and suddenly decided to make homemade peanut butter cup easter eggs; how's that for a healthy eating plan? Now I'm a candy maker! I enjoy candy, so sue me.

Easter Sunday: Big family dinner, potluck style. Nothing is better than good homemade food, especially when you're learning to eat better and make better choices. I ate what I wanted and felt great, satisfied, content. You can take a bit small amount, eat it slowly, taste it, check out the texture, and really make an effort to enjoy the buffet style dinner. There's no need to stuff yourself. It's not the last time I'll ever eat. Easter eggs turned out great. I left plenty behind and took the rest to my office on Monday.

I love to bake for special events as I get to eat the goodies but I ditch the leftovers. A piece or two of cake every so often is not a problem, but half a cake on the counter, or sweets and desserts every day for a week is a recipe for the beginning of poor eating habits. I use my 3-Day Rule (more on this next month).

Overall I exercised and ate according to plan Monday through Thursday then lots of unexpected events started to occur that could have been big roadblocks but weren't. Was the week a success? You bet. Having dinner out once a week, a glass of wine, even enjoying homemade desserts is not what makes a person gain weight, but having them every day, or never exercising regularly does. You don't have to be a fanatic, but with consistent effort you can win this weight loss race.