Feelings of Failure Creeping In...

The best thing you can do -- other than getting back to your normal pattern of eating -- is to banish those thoughts of "failure" and to accept that this really is a lifestyle change, that sometimes "life happens", and there will be times when you will splurge (whether planned or not)... and then will get back on track the next day.

I actually think you did ok -- you planned ahead and brought your own healthy food, and there are certainly many worse foods you could have eaten than the peanuts (which, although they are high calorie and high fat, have protein and some healthy fat) -- other than mindlessly eating too many peanuts and taffy.  It is SO easy to slip back into those kinds of behaviors especially when in a group setting! You get distracted by all the social interaction and don't think about how much (or what) you are eating.

I think that just having this experience will help you be more mindful in similar situations in the future.  Some general things I can suggest for the next get together are 1) keep a drink in your hand as much as possible because it is harder to eat when one of your hands is holding a glass, and 2) keep physically away from the food (you cannot just mindlessly munch on peanuts if you have to keep walking across the room/campsite/whatever to get to them, and the "traveling time" will give you an opportunity to stop and think about what you are doing).

Lora