Progress

Well, this is progress from the last photo of weigh-in, and I will take it. Getting below 200 is my greatest goal for right now. It's been a long time. I think the last time my weight started with a one, is in early 2006, and I was pushing the 200's at my wedding in February of that year. I must be the only bride in the world who didn't go on a diet in the months before her wedding. Anywho, hopefully some time next week I will be able to post a photo with a number "1" taking up the first position. My parents are coming to visit this weekend, and in the past we would have gone out to eat A LOT. But we've all made the decision to stay in and make our meals this go round, for many reasons. That's not to say we won't have fun and enjoy the visit and have a great time together. I know we'll play cards, we'll watch football, and get to catch up on a lot of talking. After all, that's what spending time together means.

In my last Weight Watchers meeting, we focused on eating out. We of course had the discussion about gigantic portion sizes, and how Americans have come to expect it. One woman, who visited Italy recently, talked about how eating out there was a long affair and many small courses were delivered to the table over an hour or two. Here, we can barely finish our salads, and the waitress is throwing the entree at you! I personally would rather have a small plate of delicious food, than a big plate of just plain ol' blech. But it seems as though we are programmed to equate dollars signs with how much food we get, not the quality.

In the meeting we also talked about why we automatically chose to go out to eat in order to socialize with someone. We meet for drinks or coffee, lunch or dinner. Getting together with girlfriends, another couple, out of town visitors. It's always going out for food. And I don't know why. I can have a nice conversation with my husband over the dinner table at home just as easily as I can at Olive Garden. But it's true, and it seems in this economy we all still meet up with friends to visit over a large pizza or an endless basket of fries or a 620 calorie coffee (that would be for my drink of choice at Starbucks, which also has 27 grams of fat!).

So for this visit with the folks, we're going to try to stay in the whole time, at least as far as meals go. That's not to say we're going to sit around nibbling on lettuce. No, we'll probably grill ribs or make wings in the oven, for college football Saturday. But I find being able to control your environment, and your ingredients, is a lot healthier than just taking whatever they serve up at the local BBQ shack!

Sandy