PRETTY MUCH PLAIN VANILLA - YUM

A couple of years ago  frozen yogurt places started popping up all over the place.  At the time I just didn't "bite."  I'm not sure why.  Way back in the '80's before Tom and I were married we frequently went out after dinner for fro yo.  Then it just went away for a long time.

This last week though,  I wanted a little something and I was tired of the Atkins bars stashed in the drawer of my desk.  I went into the yogurt place near work - Yogurtland - and found they had a no sugar added option in French Vanilla (my favorite flavor) and so I eyeballed a fist size and added some chopped almonds.  It was 6 ounces total and it was good.

 When I got back to work I went on their website and was delighted to see that 4 oz was just 80 calories - so I think the yogurt was probably 5 oz and the nuts 1 oz.  That adds up to less than one of my Atkins bars! 

However,  there was only one no-sugar added flavor available and  they change the flavors frequently; so I can't count on there being a friendly flavor everytime, so I will have to be willing to walk away!

Could you?  Do you FroYo?

LONG TIME GONE

I have not been here for a long time.  This weekend when the temperatures soared into the 90's I really felt the results of that long time away from paying attention to myself.  Aside from running to the internet to order some larger Spring clothes, I did make a more conscious effort to do more of what I started doing in the past few weeks.

One is that I pulled out the scale I "won" at the work gift exchange last year and weighed myself.  It is a different scale than the one at the gym, but I used that as the measurement I put on SparkPeople.  Next, I started tracking my meals again.  I had managed to get off sugar a few weeks ago and so far I have seen the benefit to the tune of 5 pounds gone.

I am so busy at the new job that I am finding it easy to stick to the portioned meals I am bringing and sometimes don't eat my snack until I am driving home which saves me from a ravenous arrival home.  As long as I don't taste test too much, I am usually good with dinner and I normally don't have a problem with wanting after dinner snacks.  So far I am running at an average of 1450 calories per day.

Activity is an issue.  The job is a bit of up and down, but not especially physical.  I haven't been able to get out to walk at lunch as I had hoped, I need to work on that.  The catch is I am tired when I get home so I don't get exercise in the evenings, either.  Plus there is the whole "second shift" thing with dinner, dishes, housework.  I will work it out.  Things will settle in with the new job and it won't take so much out of me.

So, I'm back. Plan to stay.

OVER IT?

Is it possible that I have eaten so many cookies, candies and cakes in the past months that I reached some sort of satiety?  Because I went off sugar 5 days ago and I haven't felt a blip of a craving.   Nothing. 

I cleaned out the pantry yesterday and tossed some really old stuff hidden behind my husband's sports supplements, some unmarked bulk purchases (I need to label the stuff from the health food department), some lingering crackers, 5 half consumed bags of tortilla chips, 2 half consumed boxes of cereal and a bag of beef jerky with an expiration date in 2009!

 I put the dangerous stuff up high and out of sight.  Maybe if I have to pull out the step stool to get to it, I will have time to reconsider whether I should eat it.

So it has been a good week so far.  I started my food log on SparkPeople and will get focused on calorie reduction this next week.  Monday is weigh in day.

SPECIAL EVENTS

I read a quote by someone about the fact that we worry about what we are going to eat during the holidays when what we should really worry about is what we are eating the other 50 weeks of the year.  So true.  We do get very concerned about the opportunities to overindulge during special occasions.  Many people speak about being unwilling to give up the pleasures of rich restaurant meals, family favorites, desserts and cocktails - while  being bombarded by advice on the many ways we can avoid adding calories and pounds and still enjoy ourselves.  Yeah, right.
In truth, if we have been paying attention the rest of the year - is it really such a big deal to indulge during these special occasions?  Beyond the question of forbidden foods and falling off the wagon and all the other ways we label our behavior around food, I think the fear is that we just plain will not stop eating once we start!

In a way this is true of me.  There are so many foods I can ignore all around me much of the time.  I can eat out in a restaurant and not reach for the bread basket or the chips and salsa.  I can say no to dessert without a qualm, I can cheerfully choose the scrambled eggs over the french toast and navigate a buffet spread selecting the healthy items.  However...if I have made monkey bread for my family by request, I will pick at it all day until the tiny portion I served myself at breakfast has ballooned into hundreds of calories. 

While I don't have an "I blew it so I might as well eat (enter ridiculously high calorie food here)" attitude, I do notice that when I have allowed myself to take a vacation from calorie counting for a special occasion - it may take me days or even  weeks to get completely back on track.   

I think this will continue to happen unless I manage to get over my attachment to certain foods.  When I can pass on the foods which currently hold me in their thrall (like good bread) then I will be able to enjoy special events without them turning into breaks from my normal, more healthy, and yes, more restricted eating. 

But I've got to tell you - the Lemon Drop Martinis I had were so worth it, not to mention the tempura fried asparagus appetizer and the pear, caramelized onion and bleu cheese pizza and the bite of sticky toffee pudding and...well, you get the picture!

On the other hand, the photos of the last week do not show me looking the way I would like to look and my knees are giving me trouble.  I do understand that I need to be on the healthy eating and gym attendance routine in order to look and feel better when the next special occasion comes up.