It’s time to lose weight again.
LeanCuisine's Steak, Cheddar & Mushroom Panini is amazing. Just sayin'.
The wife and I started the weight loss in ernest again this week. I'm up 20 pounds over my lowest point last year, and the new jeans (downsized from a 38" to a 36") are getting a tad too tight. (I lost more than 40 pounds last year, so I'm still more than 20 under the weight I'd been at for years.)
I struggle with the weight thing for the usual reasons... I like food, being the first of them. But the real problem is that I just get bored with "healthy" and "light" snacks... and that 800-calorie danish in the vending machine starts calling my name. And I just get tired of being "good" and not eating what I really want. I can only eat so many rice cakes or 0.75 ounce cookies before I go postal, ya know? And I get frustrated with the knowledge that I really have to eat like this forever... that losing weight isn't a one-time thing. You want to stay at 190 pounds, you've got to stay at 1800 calories a day. And my "ideal" weight is 165. I can't imagine reaching 165, let alone living on the three carrot sticks a day it would take to stay there.
But if you struggle with your weight, you know all that already.
I took a bit of advice from my friends at misc.fitness.weights a few years ago, and one day a week, I eat whatever I want, within reason. So I can go out for pizza and ice cream and it's no big deal. And that works... I've lost a fair amount of weight that way a couple periods in my life, and it helps keep me sane. But after awhile, even that's not enough and my willpower erodes... just one sticky bun won't hurt, right? Well, no, it won't... but one turns into two a week turns into three a week, and eventually it's all out the window.
I think the real problem occurs when I quit keeping a food diary. That "one turns into two" becomes so much easier when I'm not keeping track. So I've started back in on the tedious food diary. Yay, food diary!
For the record, 237.5# is my starting-again point. I won't bore y'all with a blow-by-blow account of my dieting, though. I'll just pipe up on a few milestones. And tell you about the "diet food" that I find particularly satisfying. (Mmm. LeanCuisine Panini....)