Yesterday was a dietary disaster. I knew that some of the rules I’d set for myself would be broken; I just didn’t realize that almost all of them would be broken. I started the day grocery shopping, and I wanted to bring something to my friend’s birthday party. So, while I was at Whole Foods picking up a few things for what will likely be the last Cheeseburger Weekend, I wandered over to the bakery (which I am far too familiar with) and selected a few packages of mini cookies.

As I’ve said before, the combination of sugar and flour is just deadly for me. That pairing likely played a tremendous role in my gaining so much weight over the last two years. The two things I wanted to avoid most when I started this project were sugar and flour. Yesterday, I failed miserably in that regard. I knew I’d sample some of the cookies when I got home. What I didn’t predict (but should have known) is that I’d actually eat quite a few of them. I keep saying that sugar for me is an addiction. Once I start consuming it, I consume a lot of it, and it’s very difficult to stop.

About the only good thing about my intermittent sugar indulgences during the journey is that they’ve made me really recognize how bad (physically) sugar makes me feel. Yes, it (temporarily) boosts my mood and calms me, but, especially when consumed to excess, it wreaks havoc on my body. I just feel “off” physically: uncomfortable, lethargic, and almost sick. A large dump of sugar into my bloodstream also tends to result in a headache, especially if my consumption of the stuff has been limited until that point.

The other diet-killer at the party was beer. I rarely drink anymore because even just a couple of beers can give me a hangover, and in addition to the usual headache and ringing in my ears, my mood is lower and my anxiety is higher the day after. Beer in particular, though, is relatively high in carbohydrates. If I’m going to have a beer, I’m not going to have some crappy light beer, either. I’m going to have a real beer, and, in the case of a party that lasts for hours, I’m probably going to have at least a few.

Anyway, according to the scale, I managed to gain eight pounds in a single day. Some of that weight will be “eliminated” after a cup of coffee or two, but, still, that big of a jump is ridiculous. While I expected to gain some weight, I did not expect to gain that much, and I’ll have to curtail the partygoing if I can’t be more responsible. That shouldn’t be hard, though, given that I rarely attend parties. But I may need to completely eliminate sugar and flour (and beer) for the foreseeable future