Confessions of a Dietitian: I Slipped!

How many of you celebrate special occasions with a little extra food or drink? And how many of you end up gaining 10 pounds in doing so? You’re probably thinking that would never happen to a nutritionist – right? Wrong!  My colleague and favorite guest blogger, Tracy Northam, MS, RD, would like to share her story of what happened after she finished her Master’s Degree.

YAY!  I finished my Master’s Degree!  YAY!  HOO to the RAY!!!  I finally get to take vacation, travel, visit friends I haven’t seen for ages, get out of my daily routine, and EAT CAKE!!!  Nothing says “LET’S CELEBRATE” like white icing with a side of cake in my book!!!  And that my friends, is why I have a yet another confession….I am a dietitian and I recently had a slip down the slippery slope of excess Calorie intake from celebrating. When I say I “slip” I actually mean shot down like a rocket because by losing the weight of graduate school off of my shoulders, my celebrations gained significant momentum and I slid right into a downward spiral of a 10 pound weight gain in 2 months.

My confession
So, (as usual) I have a confession….I am a dietitian (which lately I’ve been saying under my breath or as I cough when someone asks what I do) and I have gained weight (I say in a whisper).  Believe me when I tell you I have beaten myself up over this (even while it was happening) but, I am here to lead by example!  I will find the positive!  And not more positive weight gain!  NO!  I will find the positive of this excess energy I have willingly accumulated while “celebrating” by planning out ways to use it, lose it, and get back on track!!  I am everyone’s (self-declared) favorite misfit dietitian and I will continue to exemplify how even dietitians must recognize, make their peace with, and pull themselves back up from the bottom of the slippery slope they just slipped down!

My slide down the spiral:
I finished my last class of graduate school at the end of April.  Being the City Girl that I am for my graduation present to
myself I planned a 7 day trip to Washington, DC and New York City toward the end of May to visit friends and my old stomping grounds in NYC.  I had a BLAST!  But for me, socializing is usually done around happy hour (enter excess Calories from drinks and appetizers here) or meals (enter excess Calories from drinks and poor meal choices here).  Of course, I took my workout clothes with me on the trip because I had every intention of a run in Central Park and I had every intention of a brisk walk around the monuments in DC.  The reality was I didn’t make it a priority and I kept telling myself “I’ll get back on track next week when I get home.”

I officially graduated the first weekend of June!  Moral of the story here: I got the CAKE I always dreamed of – the icing was
seriously an inch high on each cupcake that was joined together by more icing in the shape of an owl cake.  I still tear up thinking about it.  Judge me if you must, but I loves me some icing!!!  I enjoyed all of that icing because in my mind I had earned it!  And I kept telling myself “I’ll get back on track next week.” (Pic is of Tracy’s graduation cake)

The first week of July I went on a trip to New Orleans, Gulf Shores, and Pensacola!  Well, working up to that week I decided I might as well just wait until after my trip to “get back on track” since I certainly wasn’t going to deprive myself of any of the delights New Orleans had to offer since I had never been there before.  And I certainly couldn’t sing “Two Pina Coladas” by Garth Brooks on the beach if I didn’t have “one for each hand.”  Oh, Mr. Brooks do I have a bone to pick with YOU!

My GAME PLAN for getting back on track:
1. Stop beating myself up.  Yes, I did this to myself.  No one was force feeding me anything.  But, I need a cheerleader in my corner for motivation, not someone to keep knocking me down so it’s even harder to get back up.

2. Focus on the positive.  I wasn’t ALL bad during those 2 months.  I continued to exercise (no more than 30 minutes 3-4 days/week, but at least it was something!  I also completed a 5K and a Warrior Dash in there, but clearly I was consuming more Calories than even Hercules himself could expend!

3. Evaluate what happened so it doesn’t happen again.  I don’t plan to go to graduate school again, but I am going to want to celebrate again.  I’m going to want to enjoy happy hours and dinners with my friends.  I have to see what went wrong so I DO NOT make the same mistakes in the future.  For instance, maybe instead of “setting sail with Captain Morgan” on the beach in the future, I can hydrate with some good, old fashioned, no Calorie WATER!  I’ll plan better for next time.

4. Set realistic goals and plan how I will achieve them.  I know I want to lose the weight I gained, but I don’t want it to consume me (pardon the pun), and I want to make it fun (See Confessions of a Dietitian: Flavored Workouts link?).  I registered for another half marathon at the beginning of November.  Training starts this week.  Working toward this goal will help me with my other goals of making better food choices because I won’t be able to keep up with the mileage of my training schedule if I’m suffering from a hangover on the weekend or eating fattening food.

5. Reward myself.  I CANNOT reward myself with food or drinks AKA excess Calories.  (I just summed up how I could have prevented my downward spiral in one sentence!)  I have to specify here what a reward should be.  A reward is not cake OR icing.  A reward is a pedicure or manicure or new book or new clothes or me time……NOT food or drink!

My final words of wisdom
All of that being said, I’m here to tell you don’t beat yourself up if you too downward spiral.  It happens to the best of us and I doubt any of us are immune to it.  Maybe it’s because of a vacation or a sports injury or new baby or marriage or divorce or new job or a move or loss of a loved one.  The main thing is that you don’t throw in the towel and give up!  Make a new plan and forge ahead!  If that one doesn’t work, make another one that does!

I have a confession.  I am a dietitian and I downward spiraled and gained 10 pounds in 2 months, AND I have yet another beach vacation planned next week!  Oh yeah – making sure you’re still reading because that’s not even the best part!  The BEST part is it’s also my BIRTHDAY WEEK which means birthday CAKE!  I’m not worried though.  I’ve been down this road (toward a spiral) before, and this time I have a PLAN!!!!!!!!!!

Martha’s words to Tracy
I’d like to thank Tracy for another honest blog post. I’d also like to wish her a Happy Birthday and say congrats on completing her Master’s degree. Lastly, I’d like to challenge her to losing those 10 pounds PLUS 3 more and report back to us with another blog post, new pics and tips on how she did it!!!!!! Tracy – that is my challenge to you. (pic is of Tracy, Arlene and myself during her recent trip to NYC)