I’ve been quite the little party girl, lately. Dining out and consuming generous amounts of alcohol in the presence of friends has been the order of the day…for many days.

Saturday night, I wisely went for breakfast before I drove home. I ate a lot – Perkin’s pancakes and eggs benedict. I love eggs benedict. Eggs benedict really aren’t waistline friendly, at least not when ingested among days of high-calorie consumption.

I saw the frightening number of 180 when I stepped on the scale, yesterday morning. I really don’t think that 180 is the number, but it was there because I had eaten a large breakfast at 3:00 in the morning and drank three large glasses of water throughout the course of the morning – throughout my eight hours of sleep.

Yikes!!

I love how Andrea, the Accidental Athlete, has joined Weight Watchers. She served as great inspiration – she and her first-week five-pound loss – for me to be more mindful of my food intake. I have resumed counting points.

Some of you may recall that Ali, Andrea, and I began including our food intake in our blogs. I quit doing it after a short while, mostly because I was eating a lot. I’ve generally found that my food intake is way too much if it takes too much energy to think about and write down. Not taking the time to face my 2000-3000 calorie intake in print is an obvious denial. I haven’t counted, but I’m pretty sure I’ve had days that were that high in calories.

While I am putting in the time with exercise, between snowblowing, skiing, snowshoeing, and weight training, the truth is that I am not putting in as much high-intensity training as I have with cycling. It is simply amazing the number of calories I can take in over the summer without gaining an ounce, and maybe even having a little weight loss. The transition into fall is another thing.

Many people blame the holidays, but the truth is that I ate and drank fewer calories at Saturday’s Christmas party than I would have had I gone out for dinner and ordered a 40 oz brew. The truth is that I am a spoiled cyclist. Spoiled rotten with living the dream of being able to eat whatever I want. That came to an end with fall’s weather and that is the source of my weight gain.

My winter vacation is beginning Wednesday evening. I have three weeks to get back on track and make adjustments to my diet and my exercise schedule. I’d like to spend the next three weeks being an iron woman. I am beginning my Christmas break by reorganizing my environment and my habits.

As far as Christmas goes, I’ll just have to go out for an awesome, long ski before dinner.