Weekly weigh-in: Lifelong changes

Last week's weight: 170
This week's weight: 171
Difference: +1
Total weight lost since January 2010: 100.8

I'm about to go on vacation for a few days, so I weighed in a day early this week. I didn't have a great eating week, so gaining a pound wasn't really a surprise. And I'll probably gain a few more while on vacation. I'm prepared for that.

I've been thinking a lot this week about how long it's been since I started this journey -- almost 2 1/2 years. I've had my share of ups and downs and last year saw very little change in my weight. I get frustrated sometimes when my progress is slow or I hit a plateau. But I've realized that the changes I've made since I began in January 2010 are lifelong changes.

This week proved that to me. I gave in to emotional eating a few times. What that looks like now, though, surprised me. A few years ago, I would have eaten much worse foods -- probably pounds of pasta instead of two cups or an entire package of cookies instead of a few handfuls of chocolate chips or a whole bag of potato chips instead of seven rice cakes.

That tells me that even when I make bad choices, they aren't ones that will cause me to gain back 100 pounds. I'm pretty realistic about how much I like to eat. I'm not giving up anything. I'm just learning to control how much I eat of the foods that cause me to gain weight.

I'm also realistic about knowing when to splurge. While on vacation, I don't plan to eat whatever I want, but I also don't plan to count every calorie. My plan is to really think about what I'm eating and whether it's something I really want. If so, I'm going to eat it. If I can a few pounds, so be it. I'll lose them when I get back from vacation.

It's this attitude that I think will help me maintain my weight loss for the rest of my life. At any given time, I give myself a 5-pound leeway. As long as I don't gain more than that, I'm doing OK.