Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Withdrawls

Two more weeks of the Winter Weigh Down program at the base hospital. One more weigh-in, then they’re going to cut us lose. They’ve given us the sample menu, the food diary know-how to keep track of what little calories we’re allowed in a day, the pages and pages of what to have instead of that cookie or those chips, and the calorie-counting cards that tell us how many calories and how much fat is in fast food, so as to scare us off forever. All of us in our group have done very well sticking to the plan, writing everything down, making good choices, eating the correct portion size, and it shows in our weight loss.

But I just have one question. How the hell do skinny people eat like this all the time?!? I’m going to turn in to a freakin’ carrot. Healthy schmealthy, I want a hamburger and a sugar cookie with a bunch of gooey icing on it.

You know, I might feel differently if after losing almost 30 pounds in the last year someone would say, “Wow! How much weight have you lost? You look great!” But no. Doesn’t happen. My friend M that I’m doing this with said that the nutritionist that she’s been working with was deliriously happy to tell M that she has lost enough weight that she was no longer morbidly obese and she was now just obese. There’s a compliment in there somewhere.

They had someone from Life Skills come talk to us about the psychological side of weight loss—how to stay focused and on target. So, I asked him “I’ve read that I should reward myself for my short term goals that I achieve. But a reward to me would be food, like cheesecake. So, how do I overcome that first thought being for food?” He said that I could have that cheesecake, just not to overdo it. And another lady turned around to me and said, “You’ll get to where you just don’t want that because you’re changing your lifestyle.” Uh huh. OK. But no one would tell an alcoholic that she could have that beer, just don’t over do it. That’s extreme, but you’ve never seen me at a bakery. He just didn’t want to come out and tell me that it all comes down to me making that decision. I hate all that personal accountability stuff.

But one of the ladies at my table understood me. She said that she just can’t stop herself from eating ice cream. She loves it, it satisfies something in her, and she can’t seem to only have it in moderation. The guy from Life Skills said that she should just look in the mirror and admire how good she’s looking and think about how she wants to look even better and that can be her encouragement.

Him: “What do you say when you look in the mirror?”
Her: “Hi Mom! When did you get here?”

It would probably help if I would stop watching Food Network all the time. It seems that every time I turn it on, they are focusing on sweets or fried foods. Al says I’m the person advertisers live for—I’m so suggestible.

Actually, Food Network is on right now. They’re going to make sweet potato cheesecake. Oh dear. Hey, that would be a healthy choice, right? Sweet potatoes are a better choice, right? Isn’t it a veggie? A starch veggie, but a veggie all the same.

No? OK, OK. I’ll get the carrots.

UPDATE: I've added a post on my travel blog. This one is about arriving in Islay and the Bunnahabhain distillery. And it's only half a day!

7 comments:

Jay said...

Good job on sticking to this thing! Thirty pounds?? Good grief! You're probably looking like freaking Nicole Ritchie or something now!

Seriously, thirty pounds? That's awesome!



I hate life skills people. They're always so positive and happy and shit. It REALLY gets on my nerves!

Betty said...

Thirty pounds? Congratulations! I know how hard it is. I don't like those life skills people either. They're always so, so, so, RIGHT!

katy said...

a big well done you 30lbs is a great achievement, i am supposed to be dieting mm again! just not yet got motivated!

Molly said...

Hello, this is my first visit to your blog; we visit some of the same places as I have read your comments many times. Losing thirty pounds is wonderful, and even with your protests, you have demonstrated that you know the secret to losing weight.

Tink said...

I had a friend who lost a lot of weight by drinking something every time she got hungry in between meals. All that tea, water, juice, coffee filled her up to the point where she didn't have room to eat. Of course, she was bloated and made us stop every 15 minutes to pee. Good luck!

Anonymous said...

When you asked how skinny people eat like this all the time... some skinny people are blessed with a high fuctioning metabolism. All genes! That said, it's hard to envy someone's self control when it turns out they aren't using any at all. They're simply relying on their genes to carry them through.

That said, most of those skinny folks would be just as unhappy / confused / upset about having to deny themselves what they crave (like ice cream and cheesecake) so please don't be so hard on yourself about your cravings.

And, of course, YOU LOST 30 POUNDS!! OMG. Quick, go to the supermarket, get a handbasket, load 3 bags of 10lb flour into it and amaze yourself. Think of it! You're not carrying that around on your overworked feet anymore. WAY TO GO!

Kell said...

You guys are too nice. I am proud of the 30 pounds, don't get me wrong! I'm just ready for it to be another 20 and needed to blow off some steam.

Welcome mjd! I've noticed, too, that we comment on some of the same blogs. We seem to have the same tastes.