Tales From the Scale: The Holiday Season Has Arrived

How was your Halloween?

I had such a blast turning blue, and honestly being a bit smaller has helped in a few different ways:

1. I waited until the last second to try on my dress (I think there was a secret fear that it wouldn't fit) It did but why would anyone play that type of stress game.
2. I wore heels for my hosting gig and only took them off a few times ... I haven't worn a pair of heels in a LONG time because they aren't comfortable, and with extra weight I am not willing to deal with that pain.
3. I danced and didn't sweat through my make-up (shout out to Dee Dee Dauntless for the transformation). So fun, and a nice change from years past. One year I was the bearded lady and my mustache turned into a goatee. It was really bad HAHA!

After a successful Halloween, the hubs and I had a rare weekend of nothing to do, so we went out to eat. Have you been to Cowiche Canyon? I love a restaurant that makes you feel like you're in another city. If you're a fan of guacamole, they make a fresh batch for the table and OMG it's perfection. Sea salt is no joke and really makes it pop. I even went all kinds of fancy and tried a campanula sour -- grapefruit vodka, elder-flower liquor, red bell pepper with a slice in the drink, mint and lemon. It was a bit spicy with a twist that popped in just the right way. I also tried a new dish, the Seared Alaskan Halibut with coconut rice, cranberry, almonds, garlic, thyme, calamari, apple and butternut squash sauce. It was so interesting and really pretty. I went with the halibut because I felt it might be a little less calorie-laden. I have been going hard on fried foods. The meal was full-on comfort food with such an interesting taste and texture. I was stuffed after half of it, didn't take leftovers and am in full-on regret because these past few days I occasionally stop to think about how awesome those bites were. Who knew adding nuts to a dish would create such an addicting crunch? I want more ;)

Being off for two whole days after many long working hours felt almost like a mini-vacation, so we decided to continue the party and went to Boehm's for chocolate. The haul was impressive, and for the football game on Sunday, I spent most of it trying to figure out which chocolates went best with red wine. I tried really hard to finish the bottle and came up short by only one glass HAHA!

Needless to say, this weekend I probably racked up the amount of calories I consume in a regular week.

For fun let's do a little digging.

One bottle of red wine = about 125 calories per serving in a bottle. The bottle holds about six glasses. I drank five = 625 (not as bad as I thought)

10 pieces of chocolate (I don't remember how many I ate) at 51 calories give or take = 510 calories

Did I mention the fried food? This weekend's adventure also gifted us with our first experience with DoorDash and I totally dig it. We ordered Chinese food with butterflied wantons and deep fried prawns, pork ribs and egg rolls, fried rice with the veggies on the side. It was delicious and the leftovers were just as good.

Fried prawns x 4 at 38 calories apiece = 152 calories

Chinese pork ribs one serving = 420 calories

The list could go on, but you get the idea. It's all in the calories and the serving size. But when you want to go for it, you should. And I am mean really go for it -- and then don't beat yourself up or badmouth yourself. Indulge, and then ... we start heading to the gym.

I knew it needed to happen and yesterday morning as I packed my gym bag before work, I was excited and nervous. All day long I did a dance of, maybe I don't need to go, and then flipping it back to yes, yes you do.

Mental and physical health work as a team. When we eat like crap our entire mind and body is affected by it, so one of the best ways to flip yourself around is to sweat it out.

I worked the rower for my warm-up ...

Finally figured out how to link my headphones and my cell to enjoy some music. Or to be completely honest -- and I know trainers around the world will shake their heads -- I was watching/listening to season one of "Outlander."

Then I moved over to the elliptical, mainly because this was my first day back at the gym and I wanted to continue watching my show.

I didn't follow this plan, but if you have bad knees this is a great workout.

After 30 minutes, I finally grabbed the kettle bells and did some farmer carries plus some swings before wrapping it up with a roller to ease my muscles back into the action.

These moves are so simple, but SO awesome, and if kept up a few times a week the results will really blow your mind :)

Gotta love a gym that offers a hot tub. On a chilly evening there's not much better unless you wrap the entire experience up with a smoothie. That was the plan, but I didn't realize they shut that service down at 8:45 p.m. and of course I came rolling out with my ask at 9:15 p.m. Today is a new day :)

Last week I stepped on the scale and weighed in at 184. This morning I was up to 188.6, which is too close to 190 for my liking. But also, if you just read what I ate, I can't even pretend that I'm surprised. :)

If you are searching for support, Get It Right! Get It Tight! is a free and private support group I run with my friend and professional trainer Michelle. It's a great space to get the support, motivation and the ability to rant the day away if need be. :) Find me on Facebook @sarahjthedj

Every week I step on the scale and kind of access my ups and downs.

This week I am trying to hit 10,000 steps on my Fitbit and hit the gym at least three times.

Simple, achievable goals.

What is your plan this week?