Wednesday Weigh-In: September re-cap

Week 1: -12 lbs
Week 2:   -4 lbs
Week 3:   -7 lbs
Week 4:  -2 lbs (This week)

As of today I've lost a total of 25 pounds!!  Am I happy?  You bet I am!  Am I proud of myself?  HELL YES!  Has it been easy?  No, not exactly.  I feel like my head is in the right place and I'm ready for this so I've been enjoying it, but the fat chick in the photo still tries to throw me off track with comfortable, old bad habits.  I'm determined to win this battle so she's going to have to just back off.

Goal for the week of September 27, 2010

Last week I paid special attention to portion sizes, specifically grains like rice, cereal and pasta.  I think I did all right.  I'm really getting the hang of the "eat less" side of my weight loss adventure. I'm especially mastering the art of eating protein. The "Rule of Palm" is working very, very well. 


Our 10th Anniversary at The Prospector Steakhouse

For example, on our 10th anniversary Eddy and I went out for dinner at a great local restaurant called The Prospector Steakhouse.  I decided I would eat whatever I wanted.  I ordered prime rib, but the smallest cut, 5oz.  Imagine my glee when it was served and I realized it was just about exactly the size of my palm!  I also had a baked potato with sour cream, cooked carrots, a nice assortment from the salad bar, one glass of an Australian Cabernet-Shiraz and the famous Prospector buns (hands down, yummiest buns ever.)  After dinner I was full, but not F U L L. It was nice.  My former dining out tendency was to eat and eat until I was overstuffed and uncomfortable.

I did eat more calories than I should have, but I felt no guilt.  None.  I decided to eat what I wanted just to prove to myself that I could return to my new normal eating habits the very next day, just like my regular-sized friends do.  This is what I long for.  I want to be able to celebrate a special occasion with a feast, but eat regular sized meals on all other days.  This is not my default setting.  What I’m used to is the common weight loss pitfall:  Overeating, saying “Oh well, I already screwed up this week”, perpetuating the food free-for-all, giving up and quitting.  I don’t want to do that anymore.  I want to eat like a normal person. So that brings us to this week's goal. 

 

This week's goal:  Return to normal eating after a guilt-free evening of celebratory overindulgence. 

Funny.  It should be easy but it feels so unnatural. 

Ten Blissful Years

September 26, 2000.

The best day of my life. 

Happy 10th Anniversary babe. 

xoxoxo

Friday Confessional: Girlie Night is great, except for...

Every month I get together with two different groups of fab girls.  The family group = my adorable mom, her sister/my aunt, my cousin and my sister-in-law.  The girlie group = three of my closest friends, including one I’ve known literally my entire life.  In each group we take turns picking a restaurant, meet there and enjoy a nice evening of good food, great conversation and laughing til we hurt (I love that part.)  Girlie nights tend to go later than family nights and the conversation is usually quite a bit juicier. Heehee. I adore everything about these nights except the worry that builds before I walk into a place I’ve never been.  The fear?  The chairs.  If you’re my size you know exactly what I’m talking about.  Will I fit in the chair?  I’ll be so embarrassed if I don’t.  It's agonizing.  Luckily I haven’t had a problem in the three-or-so years we’ve been doing family/girlie nights.  Truthfully, I’m surprised.  I mean, my backside is really, really big. There have been tight squeezes in booths, but so far I haven’t encountered a chair that was too narrow for my massive butt.  My bottom is shrinking weekly so it won’t be long before I don’t even think about it.  Ha.  That will be different!  (That will be marvellous.)

Wednesday Weigh-In: This is CRAZY!

Today's was a shocking weigh-in.  Another 7 pounds down!  I can't explain it.  This is double what I was hoping for.  I did nothing different to cause such a big loss in week 3.  I haven't even added exercise to my daily routine yet.  Since Day One on September 2nd I have simply been eating smaller, healthier, balanced meals.  Perhaps my metabolism has woken up after several years of restful sleep.  Maybe this is my body's way of saying, "Look, lady, you can do this, don't stop." Whatever it is, I am not going to argue.  I'm just going to walk around all day with an enormous smile.

Goal for the week of September 20, 2010

My whole house is down with a wicked little cold virus.  It started with Coby on Friday.  On Sunday it got me and I slept from noon til 9pm, woke up for one hour, then went back to bed and slept another 8 hours.  Poor Eddy has it now. 

Now about the goals, last week's protein goal went super duper.  It's surprising how little protein a body needs to feel full. 

This week's goal:  Pay special attention to grain products.

The Canada Food Guide tells me that chickees my age need 6-7 servings of grains per day.  Some examples of one serving:  1 slice of bread, 1/2 whole grain muffin, 1/2 c. cooked rice or pasta, 3/4 c. cooked cereal, 2 c. plain popcorn, 1/2 tortilla, 1 small pancake, 1 small roll, 2 medium rice cakes. 

I am very good at sneaking an extra little bit of rice or pasta.  It might not show up on the scale right now, but eventually my sneakiness will stop working.  So, this week I am going to pay attention to grains by measuring my rice, pasta and cereal to make sure I am getting the right amount: no more, no less.

Friday Confessional: Turnstiles

We the obese have several enemies in the real world and few are as ruthless as the turnstile.  I’ve encountered only two in my little city.  Canadian Tire has one.  So does Blockbuster.  I avoid both places when I can because of the turnstiles.  I get through them both, but I have to go on my toes and twist my body just so if I want my passage to appear relatively normal.  When we go to Blockbuster I usually say to Eddy, “You pick something, I’ll wait in the car.”  He never questions it and I’m sure he has no idea I’m avoiding entry because of turnstile anxiety (I guess he’ll find out when he reads this, huh?)  When I do go in with him I make sure he goes first so he doesn’t have to watch me.

My two worst turnstile experiences were at Walt Disney World where there are turnstiles, turnstiles and more turnstiles everywhere you go.  Most are ok when I use my tippytoe/twist technique, but on two different visits I had trouble. 

The first: 2007 as we boarded the Walt Disney Railroad at the Main Street station.  It was far too narrow for me and I got stuck.  I was horrified.  I quickly managed to pull my body upwards and push through but the embarrassment had already happened.  People saw.  I smiled and carried on as if it didn’t happen.  I’m good at that.

The second:  2010 going into the Carousel of Progress.  Same thing.  I got stuck.  Dammit!  Again!  All the other turnstiles were manageable, but I guess the older, less spectacular, less popular attractions like the C of P still have older, narrower turnstiles that haven’t been upgraded to the roomier new models that take the population’s expanding waistlines into consideration.  To get stuck in it was a nightmare.  I wriggled out of it somehow but, once again, I was mortified.  Thankfully there was a huge downpour at that very moment so most other guests were running for cover and not witnessing my humiliation.

So, I’m not a fan of turnstiles.  Would you believe I feel anxious just writing about them?  Next time I’m at Walt Disney World I’ll be my goal weight and I’m going to march right up to the Main Street Railroad station or the Carousel of Progress just to proclaim victory over the turnstiles.