How To Avoid Eating Too Many Cupcakes {Mamavation Update}

1. Throw a carnival-themed birthday party for your children.
2. Schedule the outdoor party on a day when the humidity is at 91% and the temp is 93 degrees.
3. Order (or make) 4 dozen white cupcakes.
4. Dye 3 bags of mini-marshmallows a buttery yellow.
5. Frost all 4 dozen cupcakes and then top them with the “popcorn” marshmallows.
6. Take two hours doing this.
7. Get tired of the smell of frosting, cupcake, and marshmallows.
8. Get stressed while decorating the cupcakes because (a) your husband decided to wait till the last minute to tackle the yard work, and (b) you decided to wait till the last minute to decorate the cupcakes.
9. Get sick of the smell of frosting, cupcake, and marshmallows.
10. While enjoying your hot, noisy outdoor carnival extravaganza, decide to try one of the cupcakes.

The combination of heat, being sick of the smell of cupcakes, and the overload of sugar will ensure you do NOT enjoy the treat.  That’s right, my friends . .  follow these steps and you too, my friends, will be able to avoid gorging on cupcakes.  It worked for me.

The Behavior Front

The good news is that even if I HADN’T been absolutely sick of cupcakes before the party started, I wouldn’t have followed my old ways of eating 1, 2, or even 3 cupcakes at the party.  Both my husband and I have noticed that we aren’t going crazy like the days of yore — the days when we would binge on breads, sweets, or pasta.  The days when we didn’t care how much we ate or what it did to us.

Those days seem to be gone.

(cue angels singing “Hallelujah”)

Even after the party, when we went to a favorite Thai restaurant, neither of us gorged on the gloriously delicious Panaeng or Pad Thai.  We ate normal, “Dr. Renna approved” portions and then we stopped.

For hubby especially, this is a BIG step in the right direction!

The Weight Front

I’m down two pounds from last week — this morning’s weight is 196 lbs!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think this brings my weight loss total to 24 pounds.  While I don’t have a scale picture for hubby, I’m please to report he is down 25 pounds!!!  We’ve nearly lost 50 pounds. . . roughly the combined weight of our children!!!!

(insert happy, skinny dance here)

The Exercise Front

I did not get as much cardio in last week as I wanted; that’s right — I let planning and preparing for a party break my routine.  No point in sighing over it though; last week is in the past.

This week, since I am childless (thanks to grandparents taking my kidlets for the week), I’m going to use my gobs of spare time having quickies with my Smooth Fitness treadmill and lunch dates at the Gym.

The Food Front

Last week could have gone horribly wrong with food.  .  . I DIDN’T MEAL PLAN LAST WEEK!  Ugh, I learned (once again) that I really, really, really need to take the time to plan our meals each week.  We didn’t eat horribly — no last minute take out or anything like that — but there weren’t nearly as many veggies eaten as should have been.  My diet the past week was pretty grain heavy; because I didn’t have a tons of time, I ate a lot of oatmeal, sandwiches, wraps, and quinoa salads.

This week, since we don’t have kiddos to worry about, Hubby and I have decided to eat lighter this week, so I’ll be planning meals that are more veggie focused.

Anyone have some favorite veggie dishes to recommend?

I want to thank everyone who left comments last week — if you don’t already know this, it is incredibly uplifting to read your advice, ideas, and encouragement!

AND . . . if you haven’t heard, the new Mamavation Moms will be announced tonight at the big Twitter Party; a link for the custom Tweet Grid will be sent out later today via twitter.  I am so excited for our six finalists and can’t wait to learn who the next two will be!  I look forward to mentoring one of you.  🙂