Food
I did pretty good today until tonight when the boys broke out the pretzels. I usually don't have a problem with these, but I dove into them tonight. And on top of that still had my protein pudding and now I feel really full.
The thing is I think I was having some anxiety about eating healthy FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE. I've been doing well and then it hit me that I'm going to have to always eat like this and it scared me. Okay, slow down, girl. Only take one day at a time.
More on that in a bit.

Exercise
I went walking with my stroller group. This is the first time exercising in over a week (the longest I've taken a break in almost 2 years). My knee felt okay. It's a little sore, but it was fine while we were walking. I didn't wear my HRM as I didn't want to push myself. I wanted to focus on how my knee felt.
I have decided not to log my exercise or subtract my exercise calories. For one thing I think I was using exercise to eat more. That's not the only reason as I truly love to exercise, thank goodness. But if I want to get my food in order, I need to make exercise separate so to speak. I want to enjoy my exercise, to enjoy the challenge and stop worrying about the calories. I still will wear my HRM as I want to use it to monitor my exercise and stuff. About the eating back the ex. cals., it was suggested to me at PNP not to eat those back until I get my BLTs in line. That's Bites, Licks, and Tastes. When you nibble or pick at your kids' food or take tastes of stuff. Those calories add up and I do pick at my kids' food often. So that is the plan for now.

Daily Joy
I am so proud of myself. I did yoga for 20 mins. It felt really good and that was the thing I did just for myself today while the kids were napping. (And YAY, Collin took a nap after not taking one for probably 3 or 4 days in a row.)

Daily Gratitude
I was reading in my new favorite book (This Year I Will) that part of gratitude is also appreciating yourself and what you are doing to work toward your new goal. Goodness, appreciating yourself is much harder than it sounds. When I tried to think of some things, I kept coming up with negative things I do/did and I realized how much I beat myself up. In order to be successful, I need to let go of the negative self talk.
So in an effort to move in that direction, I appreciate that I have done many positive things today to bring me closer to my goal.

Other
In that same vien, this author also talked about how important it is to do a post game review when you are trying to change a habit. Simply asking yourself these 2 questions can be so powerful: What worked? What do I need to do different next time?
I think looking at what worked is similar to looking at what I did well. I know that making a food plan ahead of time is exceptionally helpful to me and helps me keep my focus. It keeps my emotions out of the decision making process and that is a huge help.
So for 5/6 meals today I followed my plan and did really well. Even when I was tempted to eat off plan (like when I was in the mall today smelling cinnamon roasted almonds and popcorn) I stuck to my plan.
What do I need to do differently? Monitor my thinking when anxiety creeps in. Usually my thinking is full of errors. If I think through it, breathe deeply, I will find the truth and as the Bible says, the truth will set you free.
Okay, this is long enough for now.