Further Adventures in Weight Maintenance

I’m just barely hanging on to my weight below that number that I don’t want to see.  I don’t even want to say it or write it out loud, in case you hadn’t noticed…

But remember in my last post I mentioned going out with a friend for lunch this week?  Well yesterday was the day.  And guess what I did?  I called my friend and asked if she wanted me to pack a lunch for us.  And she was thrilled with the offer.  So I packed a nice  healthy and delicious 5 point lunch for the two of us.  And she brought each of us 2 one point cookies.  And some carrots to munch on to distract our mouths.  What a difference from the days of going out for a big burger, and then stopping at Coldstone for an ice cream before heading home.  It’s not hard to do at all (packing a lunch,) and in the end it saves you a lot of time.  We got in more shopping, and got home much earlier than we did in the past.  Here’s the best part (to me.)  We ended the day at Costco, where I got some amazing fruit, and some great dates.  And completely ignored the bakery section.   Before we left  I had been thinking a nice frozen yogurt would be a good treat.  But it is hard to find frozen yogurt places nowadays.  And as we stood in line at Costco, I saw their sign for frozen yogurt!  So I asked my friend if she wanted to split one.  It was so good, and a nice way to end the day.  But wait a minute, here is the really good part.  As we ate it, we wondered about the points value.  Because really, it tasted a little too good.  So last night right before I went to bed, I came back to the computer to see if they had the nutritionals on COSTCO frozen yogurt.  Guess what?  3 points for 1/2 of a Costco yogurt!  YAYYAYYAYYAY!!!

Here’s the other part of the last two days’ adventure.  Every year, for the past 20 years, a few of my neighbors and I have gotten together for a potluck dinner and to watch the Westminster KC Dog Show.  Now, one neighbor is health conscious and brings the salad.  Good so far.  I am always in charge of desserts.  Nowadays that is good also.  Last night I brought a delicious apple crisp, 3 points for one serving, and topped it with a little Dreyers Slow churned vanilla ice cream, 1 point.  Also good.  Okay,  here’s the not-so-good part.  The lady that hosts it is an 80-something year old 6 foot 4 inch former army nurse that I used to work with when I first moved up here, and I am actually intimidated by her.  Enough so that it is not worth it to me to refuse to eat her delicious but ‘pricey’ goulash.  So, two nights of a pretty hefty serving of goulash.  My friend thought it was pretty funny that I admitted to being intimidated by her.  But here’s another good thing.  She lives about a mile and a half from me, and it is a gentle downhill slope almost the whole way there, so both nights I ran over there!  And I really ran most of the way.  Not jogged, or shuffled.  RAN!!!  It sure was fun.  My knees stopped hurting.  And really, I was never out of breath or had that thing where your chest hurts because you are breathing so hard.

Too tired both days to do the Shred.  

And I for sure am not successful all the time.  All you have to do is look at my weigh in page to see the truth about what I eat.  But I kind of think it doesn’t help you much to write about the bad stuff I ate, so I don’t do that as much.  Like, for example, the other day I was writing thank you notes (left over from Christmas) and was writing one to my BF’s daughter-in-law to thank her for the cookies, and the next thing you know, I was digging those cookies out of the freezer and eating two of them.  Okay, sorry.  Don’t go eat a cookie.  They just don’t satisfy you at all.

I guess all this is just part of real life.  Fitting in the exercise where you can on busy days.  Forgiving yourself for not being the super -athlete you envisioned at the beginning of the day.  Making more good food choices than bad.  Making ‘good food choices’ that you actually enjoy.  Keeping your house stocked with that good stuff.  Getting up the next morning ready to start all over making good enjoyable food choices, and letting exercise be a priority in a relatively free day.