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In New Orleans w/ Ignatious, August 2011, Weight 282 (This Shirt is Now Gone) |
Date: January 24, 2012
Day #: 309
Starting Weight: 369
Weight (As of 1/20): 222
Cardio Exercise: 65 Minutes
Food Intake: A
People ask me what I’ve given up. And that’s an important question, and I have given up lots of things, but the more months I go the more these items seem like things that no longer exist. Remember Freakies Cereal in the early 1970s? I couldn’t have it if I wanted it – it no longer exists. Same with the Baked Ziti at Pisa Pizza – I can crave it all I want, but it isn’t there. That is how I look now at the food that built the body that had to be razed. Buffets, yes, they still exist. Yes, I could belly up to Jenkins over on Ringgold Road and have 5 pieces of fried chicken and a pound of potato salad. I could do it today, but there is a strong part of me that feels that the place is gone, torn down. I know that I can not go there, regardless. In the old days I ordered a pizza (I ate the whole thing) probably twice a week; I haven’t done that since the lifestyle change, although I often see delivery cars in the complex, so I know it still exists. And yes, I can have pizza and fried chicken, and I do, and it can work marvelously in the points system, but my willpower is such that I have to have these items in a controlled, non-buffet restaurant setting, where the portions are controlled. This is why free food is my weakness – an opening night party at the theatre, with food sitting around, I crumble, I am unable to manage it. I eat more than I should, and I do feel guilt, but then you exercise and you start the next day anew…something that, when it happened in previous diets, would simply give me a reason to just quit. Tomorrow night is the monthly Town Hall meeting at work with kids – on the menu is catered BBQ and potato salad. This is where WW doesn’t work – if I don’t make the food or have no knowledge of the nutritional information (I’m looking at you Cracker Barrel!) it’s hard to make a structured diet day. The old me would try to get as much food as I could, and the old me is not dead – it’s a battle. And in conclusion, one thing I could never give up is movie popcorn – the smell is so Pavlovian that I am unable to resist, and WW gives the points as 5-10-15 depending on size (though some theaters provide nutritional info), but I have discovered that small can calm the need – anything larger and I feel sick. So yesterday had some Rice Krispies, a grilled chicken sandwich for lunch, a small popcorn and after rehearsal a couple of 3 point sandwiches – all in all is a good day well below points. Snuck in an hour of exercise, so it was a good Tuesday.