Doctor Scales, Enlightening Photos, Salad Orders, and Box Lunches

My sister posted a comment to my "Feeling after 1 week" post. She was able to take her thought process from one of defeat to one of victory. The timing could not have been better to hear from her as I saw my weight this week on the doctor's scale. I went in for a minor problem and was, of course, immediately put on the scale. Yes I had heavy jeans and shoes on but still would have loved to have seen a number 10 pounds lighter (I feel that was a realistic amount). This event and my sister's post have reaffirmed my decision to not weigh myself. Here's a quote from her comment,
"feeling like giving up if I was going to have to put so much effort into NOT gaining weight" 
 I have felt this many times. Maintaining weight is a battle ground for me. Our family took an epic trip to Puerto Rico two years ago and at the time I was in a maintaining battle. The scale was creeping around 8 pounds more than my "ideal" weight. I look at the photos now and am frustrated because I look great and I wish I would have paid more attention to how my clothes were fitting and that my energy level was high. I wish I would have stopped weighing myself then but instead I started into my common spiral of discouragement. This time my spiral led to an 18 month time of "I'm gonna take a break from worrying about what I eat". I honestly don't regret that I did let myself eat whatever for a while because I learned that I feel awful when I eat less nutritious foods on a regular basis. I also learned that I feel awful when I'm a size that slows me down. Here's another quote from my sister's comment, "I shifted my focus to how I feel, and realized that not only am I feeling stronger and with more stamina but I noticed the jeans I was wearing were fitting really well"   Yes, maintaining weight IS a battle so I will no longer go there, instead I will honestly notice my choices, my energy levels, and my clothes size/snugness. I want my relationship with food to be a healthy one, it's up to me.

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I ate out at Chik fil A with colleagues one night last week and I got a Market Salad. Being The Salad Order at a fast food restaurant is not something that goes unnoticed in a group of 10 women. I'll let you fill in the obvious comments. I was offered a fry from a friend and said, "no thanks" I mentally owned my choice without apologizing (even to myself). This brings me to this coming Monday meeting and the Box Lunches we are having. What goes well in a box? A sandwich? A cookie? I'm anxiously deciding what and how I'm going to eat: take the meat off the bread or maybe I'll pack my own lunch.