Slowly relearning, Baby Step by Baby Step

This is a follow up post to 2 days ago when I promised I would update you on how yesterday’s “Anniversary Dinner” and the “lead up” to it went.

Commitments:

• 1 hour of loving movement
• All meals except actual dinner healthy ones
• As much moderation as possible at actual dinner

So how did it go?:

• Over an hour at the gym – 20 minutes on elliptical, 10 on treadmill, tricep/bicep work, 3 sets of leg presses, a little calf work, 2 sets of ab exercises. Didn’t push too hard but worked up a sweat and felt better afterward.
• 2 eggs and healthy oatmeal for breakfast, 4 oz tilapia with salsa and some steamed zucchini for lunch, a little pomegranate juice for gym, and an apple afterward
• Dinner was another story. They spoiled us with off menu appetizers (small though), raspberry mojitos, fresh rosemary rolls, and the meal itself was wonderful. Had a steak (way over-seasoned and with béarnaise sauce!), some garlic mashed potatoes, and grilled asparagus. Ate too much of the meat! But the dessert was only so-so so skipped it and just had coffee. Really, really good coffee.

Leaving the restaurant I felt absolutely miserable. Bloated, brain fog, and wondering “why?”. And have a bit of a food hangover this morning.

Yes, it was my anniversary dinner (19 years, 4 married) but I think I would rather have gone to a great play, a classical music concert, checked out a new gallery downtown, or went dancing (even though my spouse doesn’t like to dance). Making a healthy dinner at home and enjoying the time DOING SOMETHING together is how I think I want to celebrate things like anniversary’s and even holiday’s like Christmas in the future.

So how’d I really do? Well kept almost all my commitments. Fell down a bit at dinner with all the extra food but learned a valuable lesson from it. It’s ok to be a foodie but in moderation and focusing on “experiences” instead can actually be more fun, certainly more rewarding, and create memories that last much longer than a 10 ounce rib eye covered in béarnaise sauce!

Huge thanks for the comments! Has given me tons to think about and decide what to begin doing. Today is “cognitive remediation therapy”. Trying to get back those brain cells lost to all these years of psych meds. Wish me luck and a healthy eating day and best to all of you as well!

Related articles

• Schneier: We Need To Relearn How To Accept Risk (news.slashdot.org)
• A Wedding Anniversary to Remember! (muckville.com)
• food for thought: from granola to ganache (happyisthenewhealthy.com)
• Lessons That I’ve Learned (Or Relearned) On The Journey This Week (journeythereandbackagain.wordpress.com)

A Picture Is Worth…

Over 10 Sizes and 70 pounds lost along the “Weigh”!

A few posts ago I shared my clothing size drop from 28W to 16W along with pictures. What you didn’t see is how, by increasing workout days/intensity, how far I’ve come in just the last 2 months. It’s pretty amazing!

Flash Back: Scary 278.8 Pounds ago

 

 
 

 

 

 

Flash Forward: Christmas 2011 – 68 pounds Lost

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

Anniversary Date, February 11, 2012: 208, down only 3 more pounds, but Huge Change – This is the special 16W dress!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 
 

Major Milestone: First time in Years I’ve been able to Comfortably Cross My Legs In Public! This may sounds like a small win, but I always had too much lower body weight, especially belly and hips. Bye bye Blob!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 
 

This is Dang Exciting, But Here’s A Few More Additional Real-Life Benefits From the Weight Loss:

• The constant pain in my hips, knees, and feet is GONE!
• I can sit cross legged and even in half lotus comfortably.
• None of my rings fit (except wedding ring) and will have to get engagement ring resized. Fat fingers, bye bye!
• My watches are also too big as wrists are back to pre-weight gain size. I can now wear a great Seiko watch I wore in my 20’s again! Hello skinny wrists!
• Most of my dress up/work shoes don’t fit – just added another 6 Pairs to garage sale pile! Fat feet, bye bye!

But the Biggest Changes Have Been Psychological:

At Christmas 2011, still eating full portions when dining out plus bread, appies, and dessert. Then went to Concierge Lounge after dinner to get a 2nd portion of dessert! Did try to have 1 lower cal meal per day though.

Psych Change Needed: In our minds, celebrations and fun times = FOOD!

2 months later: Although we went out to eat for our 18th Anniversary, we have completely changed the way we approached our meal.

• We ordered Half Size Salads to start.
• We ordered much smaller main portions – a 6 oz petite filet for me w/2 prawns and an 8 oz petite filet for her.
• We ordered 2 sides (it was an al a carte place) but ate only less than half of each one and took the rest home for next day’s dinner.
• I skipped coffee after and both of us skipped dessert there.
• We bought very small portion desserts from a bakery in the hotel and ate at home.
• We discussed that we’re going to do this type of ordering in the future – half portions of salads/starters, skipping appetizers, sharing a main course, and either sharing or skipping dessert. Not only cheaper on budget, but on waistline!
• Biggest: on the way home, La asked about going out to Kobe for my birthday and I could have cared less about going out to eat to celebrate. Instead, I’d rather enjoy time with friends and apply the money for a meal out to home improvements, paying off debts, or other tangible “life gains”. WOW!

So, it’s the huge change in how we look at dining out and deciding to spend our money on healthy foods, vinegars/flavored olive oils to encourage healthy meals, and finding other ways to celebrate that aren’t centered around food.

This includes planning for Christmas this year. Instead of staying at a nice hotel/meals, we’re looking at going to the AKC Eukenuba National Championships held here in Orlando. Talk about a serious Perceptual Flip!

I think we’re finally really “getting it”!