Halfway done – still hanging in there

As I approached the halfway point in the May Healthy Living challenge, I encountered my most daunting obstacle yet – the beautiful spring weekend full of activities.

From the moment that my next-door neighbor fired up his homemade outdoor grill on Friday evening, I knew the formidable challenge that lay before me. The charcoal smoke snaked through my backyard like a seductive serpent. Soon that enticing aroma would be joined by zucchini, spicy sausages, and marinated steak.

What’s that you say? We should come over and join you? Oh, we really shouldn’t. I mean, maybe we can stop by for a bite.

Three hours later, after filling up on grilled food, refreshing drinks, and pleasant conversation, we found our way home. We could have stayed later. Indeed, our friends were all still visiting when we retired for the evening. But, the weekend dam was bursting and we did not have enough fingers to slow the momentum. Here are a few highlights (and lowlights):

• We did surprisingly well with breakfast, still consuming a protein shake with fruit or almond butter. (well, except for Mother’s Day and a certain Danish Kringle)
• Lunches are getting tough. There is only so much salad that a body can take. So, we did Pizza Hut take out on Saturday. Major fail.
• Saturday night took us back across the fence to our neighbors and more grilled food and delicious drinks.
• Ah, Mother’s Day. After way too much kringle, we headed to my brother’s house. In reality, the worst things I had there were the hamburger bun and a slice of ice cream cake.

Despite my best efforts at sabotaging my healthy living plan, I lost 2 more lbs last week. I’m working to get back on the wagon this week, because next week is going to present a whole new challenge – traveling. More on that later in the week.