I should always listen to my own advice.  I’ve written a blog on whether you should weigh yourself every day, and the experts I researched as well as my own experience have indicated it might be best not to weigh every day.  We all fluctuate, so it may actually be considered kinder to give yourself a break and weigh maybe once a week.

Well, I didn’t. I was up a pound and a half.  I calmed myself, knowing it was just my body doing its cyclical thing. Or was it? You decide, as a now divulge what I ate.

BREAKFAST:  3 oz. salmon, red cabbage and mint dressing

LUNCH:  skipped

DINNER:  3 oz chicken, with kale and quinoa salad, which included pecans, dried cherrys, red onion, and Sally’s Favorite Dressing (see recipe blog).

Skipping lunch was such a bad idea. I know better. But I was not hungry, and anxious to get some writing and business paperwork done.  There’s always an excuse. What it led to was a big problem.  I was ravenous by dinnertime. Then I made a big mistake.  I used balsamic vinegar.  I was aware that balsamic had sugar in it, but I thought, “It’s vinegar!  How much sugar can vinegar have?”

I found out. Apparently, three grams was too much. With the first bite I knew it was a trigger food. Trigger foods make you crave more and overeating is generally the result.  It certainly was for me.  As I was preparing the salad and tossing it for the family, I kept digging in with big forkfuls. I probably had the equivalent of a whole salad by the time I served the meal.  But of course that didn’t stop me from giving myself another serving.  I consoled myself with the idea that I didn’t up my amount of animal protein and simply gorged on greens, but I conveniently ignored the pecans and cherrys (dried cherries have loads of sugar), and the worst culprit, the salad dressing.  I seem to have a handle on eating without sugar gluten and dairy, though cheese always calls my name.  But I know I pour more than the appropriate two tablespoons on my chosen veggies every time.  My food demon sits on my shoulder, cheering me on.  “This is your only vice left,” he whispers in my ear. “You deserve to enjoy something.”

Well, that pound and a half was the result, or at least in part. Skipping lunch and choosing a trigger food that made me overeat set me up for an uptick.  I know, the body will still have ups and downs, but a pound and a half on the scales the next morning?  A good lesson here.