Get Ready Get Set!!

(A cute Thanksgiving table scape at my sister-in-law's house)

Today was the official beginning of "the season" for me. Anyone who has ever been on a diet knows that "the season" is that crazy food-filled time of year that runs from Thanksgiving to New Years. My season began at lunchtime, with the annual company luncheon for employees, where we were treated to a buffet line filled with turkey, ham, stuffing, sweet potatoes, green beans, mashed potatoes, bread and butter, pumpkin pie, cold cans of soda, and oh yeah, I think there was a salad up there somewhere but I pretended not to see it.

Then at the end of the day they sent us all home with a big frozen turkey (since James and I each get one, he donated his to the local fire department). Tomorrow my department goes out for "our" Thanksgiving lunch, to a popular local buffet here that everyone just loves (me, I eat the mac & cheese, that's about it). I will probably be loosening the buttons on my pants after that, then James and I take off for a quick weekend getaway together (where there will be plenty of meals out), just to catch our breath before the whirlwinds of the holidays begin.

For Christmas, the office has already passed around the sign up sheet for the big accounting luncheon, where I wrote down my famous lemon cake. The day after that, another company-sponsored Christmas luncheon, which I'm sure will spoon up plenty of tasty offerings just like today. Then we get sent home with our yearly gift of spiral cut ham. And as for me at home, my coffee table is covered with magazine clippings and recipe cards, where I will eventually weed out my five or six favorite treats to bake for gifts to co-workers and neighbors.

And these are just work related diet busters! I didn't even mention Thanksgiving and Christmas meals with the families. I suppose I will get around to blogging about that fairly soon. I love the holidays, but man I wish I was a size four so I wouldn't worry about the 5-10 pounds I know I will gain!

Sandy

(Christmas at our old house in South Carolina)

Please Do Not Feed The Humans

(The cats last night anticipating OUR dinner coming to the table)


When you're trying to lose weight, do you ever feel like everyone else is allowed to eat whatever they want- everyone except for you?

Sandy


(The deer this morning having breakfast in our backyard at the corn feeder)

Up and Down

Up and down is a golf term that I've learned from my husband- you have one shot to make it up on the green, and a second shot to make it into the hole. But, since I don't play golf, up and down to me is the best way to describe my weight loss for the last few months. I hit my plateau (the green) sometime back in the summer, and I have yet to make it over that hurdle and on to the next phase (getting the ball into the hole). I lost the first 45 pounds in just five to six months, and since then, nothing. The number on the scale goes down and up, up and down. With at least sixty pounds to go, I am getting frustrated- not with the weight loss, but with myself and my lackluster efforts. On my regular Friday morning visit to the scale, I was down a half pound since last week. But, mind you, I'm still working on taking off the weight I gained in Las Vegas last month. However, if things go as they usually do, I will gain weight over the weekend and then settle back into my routine come Monday. Does anyone else go through this? You stay committed to your eating plan during the week, then on the weekend it's like a free for all?

James and I pretty much go out almost every weekend, whether it's out and about town to run errands, or up into Atlanta to hang out, or off to sporting events, or even going out of town for our frequent weekend getaways. So there are always meals out on the weekends. And even when we stay home, which is rare, I always seem to lose track of myself with my snacking. This weekend is no different. If you read my other blog, you know we were expecting company over the weekend, who long story short, wasn't able to come stay with us. But before we knew that, we stocked up the house with chips, dips, crackers, soda, and even a big bag of bagels and cream cheese from Panera. Now mind you, we also went last night and did grocery shopping for all our normal staples of fresh produce, lean meats, and low fat dairy. But I know me, and I know I will be digging into the Wheat Thins and cajun crab dip before I reach for an apple or fat free yogurt. I wasn't out of bed for five minutes this morning and I was chowing down on a big chewy sesame seed bagel. I won't "overdo" it as far as the amount of food I will eat, but I know I won't make the right choices with all the yummy snacks in the house. I just haven't quite made it to that point yet where I can simply turn up my nose at the tub of pimento cheese spread and say to myself, leave it alone.

So later on today, as you are reading this, I will probably be watching a football game or the NASCAR race, with a plate full of cheese and crackers in front of me. And tomorrow I will avoid the scale so I won't have to admit to myself how badly I misbehaved over the weekend. And I will pack my lunch bag for work with my bottled water and yogurt and half a turkey sandwich and tell myself I will walk the straight and narrow all week long. Until next weekend rolls around and we come up with more fun plans for the two of us. Heavy sigh.

(photo of General claiming my jeans last night after we got back from eating out and I was so full I had to put on flannel pj pants instead........)

Sandy

A Weak Week One

Well week one of the new job didn't go quite as perfectly as I'd hoped. The first day there, I was in orientation and training all day long (yes, even though I'd worked for the company for 8 years already, I was considered "new" at the Atlanta office). I brought my lunch bag, pitifully packed with just a can of Slimfast and a Fiber One bar, because I knew I wouldn't be there the full eight hours. That day, it was storming all afternoon and at lunch time, the people doing the training decided that instead of "letting" us go to lunch, they would be nice and order in pizza and soda so we didn't have to go out in the miserable weather. The training would continue while we ate. I was in a room full of men and didn't want to seem the odd bird out, so I ate pizza and Coke along with everyone else. Strike one.

The second day, which was my first real regular day in the office, I packed my lunch bag again, adding a few extra nutritious snacks. Walked right out of the house that morning without it. I realized it was still sitting in the refrigerator, when I was about twenty minutes down the road. I stopped at a gas station with a big convenience store and picked up a Coke Zero and as "healthy" snacks as I could find. I think I ended up with a Slimfast bar and a pack of cheese crackers. I don't think most gas stations are really concerned with those of us watching our calorie intake! There were at least a dozen different types of Little Debbies, but maybe two types of low fat granola bars.... Boo, strike two.

Finally, I got my act together and brought my lunch for the rest of the week. I had a bowl of high fiber cereal and skim milk for breakfast every morning, then took a cup of coffee with me in the car. Lunch was a small turkey sandwich, light string cheese, carrots, a pudding cup, a Fiber One bar, and a bottle of water. This constituted lunch and both snack breaks. It sounds like a lot of food, but by the time I got home at almost six in the evening, I was starved out of my head every night. I had to have another snack to hold me until dinner (James gets home a little later). I'm not sure if I need to add more food to the lunch bag, or more water. I know one bottle isn't nearly enough.

One bit of lucky news is that the group of ladies I work with now are all trying to lose weight, in fact they are all in a competition held by the company that ends in about three weeks. They walk at a very brisk pace on their morning break and afternoon break, out in the parking lot, and asked me to join them. I did, and brought along my trusty pedometer to find we were walking almost one mile on each break. Although I'm not super happy with the way I ate this week, I did get on the scale on Friday morning (when I would normally have weighed at Weight Watchers) and I was down a pound this week. So I guess the pizza and cheese crackers didn't do me in after all. Onward...

Sandy