Diet Hard

So yesterday was the rescheduled rest day. And I know I need rest days. Everyone needs at least a day to recover. It helps you come back stronger.

The downside to rest days, however, is that you're not burning as many calories as you do the rest of the werek. Because you're resting. Yet you're used to eating a certain amount of calories each day, and it's not so easy to scale back on your rest days. Calories can creep up on you, and before you know it you're down to a thousand calories with dinner and dessert to go.

No problem, you say, just have a light dinner. This is where real life gets in the way.

Thursday was Thanksgiving, so that's just out the window. Didn't even try to count calories for that mess. Even with the five-mile Turkey Trot, I knew I blew my budget.

But Friday was date night with the missus, and we simply had to try the new steakhouse that was opened by the sister of an old high school friend. And when they said they had New York Cheesecake for dessert, we just had to try it.

This is how diets fail.

The only thing you can do with a defeat is learn from it. I learned that I still need to exercise, even on rest days. And I did, burning about 500 calories in an easy bike ride with the 20-lb. vest on. But on rest days you have to watch your calories even more closely, because you'll have fewer in your budget.

And I'm learning that certain foods are just anathema to a diet. Like biscuits. 180-odd calories in each, and you can eat three without even knowing it. Hell, they come in packs of eight, and it's not like you can bake just one!

Another diet killer is American cheese. 100 calories in a slice, if LoseIt is to be believed. That grilled cheese sammich you had for lunch put you in a deep hole for the rest of the day.

But today I'm back on the schedule, and if I can watch my intake during the Notre Dame-Stanford game tonight, I should be okay today.