The A2K (virtual) Weight Loss Club !!

No, it's ongoing. After Feb 14th, there's M's birthday, Easter, spring break vacation (lots of restaurant meals), Jazz Fest, wedding anniversary, Mother's Day, sibling reunion, Father's Day, K's birthday, the summer holidays with friends and family, random invites for gatherings, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Eve. Each of these events are separated by two to three weeks and they're ALL based around food.

What I've discovered over the past two years is that I'm able to recover from the events (or lose in anticipation), but not make a real dent in the baseline. The change I made in 2006 was to stop having the focus of all gatherings be on food. We spent my birthday wandering the indoor greenhouses at Garfield Conservatory, Mother's Day was outside pulling garlic mustard with the girls, major holiday gatherings were pared back (I still have a number of things in the freezer that I decided not to prepare on Christmas Eve) and the result was that I didn't gain any weight.

I don't want to stop our social opportunities, I just want them to be less focused on food. I'm glad that my mini panic in October prevented my annual 8 - 10 lb climb. I think some minor changes in how I approach January through September will bring some good results. It will start with paying attention to what I eat.

Switching the focus from food is a good idea. So is simple eating between festivities. In an age of abundance we tend to "feast" on a daily basis and exercise once a week.

You probably all know this, but it's new to me and I like it!

Twas the month after Christmas, and all through the house
Nothing would fit me, not even a blouse.
The cookies I'd nibbled, the eggnog I'd taste
At the holiday parties had gone to my waist.
When I got on the scales there arose such a number!
When I walked to the store (less a walk than a lumber).
I'd remember the marvelous meals I'd prepared;
The gravies and sauces and beef nicely rared,
The wine and the rum balls, the bread and the cheese
And the way I'd never said, "No thank you, please."
As I dressed myself in my husband's old shirt
And prepared once again to do battle with dirt---
I said to myself, as I only can
"You can't spend a winter disguised as a man!"
So--away with the last of the sour cream dip,
Get rid of the fruit cake, every cracker and chip
Every last bit of food that I like must be banished
Till all the additional ounces have vanished.
I won't have a cookie--not even a lick.
I'll want only to chew on a long celery stick.
I won't have hot biscuits, or corn bread, or pie,
I'll munch on a carrot and quietly cry.
I'm hungry, I'm lonesome, and life is a bore---
But isn't that what January is for?
Unable to giggle, no longer a riot.
Happy New Year to all and to all a good diet!

Over Christmas I have become obsessed with Maltesers(english chocolate covered honeycomb sweet)tooootallly obsessed, I bought 2 big packets the other day, tho they are not opened so Im doing well-ish.

I used my copious free time this weekend to exercise more and cook some healthy meals. I'm optimistic about tomorrow's weigh-in.

Mac--

Fingers crossed for you and your appointment with the scales. May the figures reflect your triumph of sense over mindless sensuality.

***********

This Cathy panel cheered me enormously this morning:

http://www.gocomics.com/cathy/

I'll remind you to stay off those Margaritas at JazzFest. I might even find a reminding ally in P. (He hee)

-- Thomas, 5'7", temporarily weightless for fear of stepping unto a scale.

Go for the bloody mary's. They're fairly low in calories (as cocktails go) and they usually come with a snack.

I don't know what I weigh. Still in my lessfat clothes, so nothing terrible has happened.

On Bloody Mary's, I never drank too many of them since I never drank any.
I, the mad italophile with many many tomatoes eaten by me started out gagging at tomato juice. Well, I was an odd kid. It was in Ohio, actually, at friends of my parents' home in Yellow Springs(?). Decades later, I still don't just chugalug tomato juice. This of course makes no sense at all since I have probably scarfed up a full ton of spaghetti sauce.

Still, tomato juice is good. Perhaps better for you if heated (and no, I won't go look for links).

I don't like tomato juice either, but V8 is okay. It's the worcestershire sauce, the hot sauce, and the horseradish (to say nothing of the vodka) that make me like bloody mary's.

Have you guys tried a Caesar? Clamato juice, no less, which you apparently cannot get in the US of A, celery salt, LEE & PERRINS, S&P and tobasco for those with no taste buds... + vodka, of course, and the obligatory green bean or celery stick.... it's better than a Bloody Mary by far... clamato is not so thick and so much tastier. I always have Virgin Caesars because I don't like the taste of alchohol... Very, Very Nice.

HAH! You stay away from my margaritas and we'll do just fine Seriously, Rene makes the best margaritas in New Orleans and we spend quite a bit of time with Rene :wink:

I had a eureka of sorts this morning. I've been moaning about not losing any weight over the past two years. I haven't gained any either, which is a good thing, and I do a great job anticipating and recovering from one event after another. So, here's the eureka.... I'm a statistician and spend my life focused on the numbers. I am good at goal setting and achieving those goals in the short term. I've identified 16 annual events that are separated by approx 3 weeks each. Most are one day events, some are week-long or long weekend events. Instead of telling myself I'm going to lose 10 lbs and putting myself on a track to fail because of the intervening social events, I'm going to tell myself that I will lose ONE pound from one event to the next. The measurement will occur the morning following the event.

Here's the details:
After Christmas I weighed 178
On Jan 1st I weighed 177
On Jan 16th (the day after my birthday) I will weighed 176
On the Monday after SuperBowl I will weigh 175
etc.

I'll have to be below that number by a couple pounds on the morning of the event (easily achievable because it's only a couple pounds over the course of three weeks). I'll have to be well below that number heading into a long weekend or week long event (also easily acheivable because I'll be on a short track and do that well).

I'm reading the Mindless Eating book from Noddy's thread which has lots of great ideas on mindful ways of mindlessly reducing intake by 20%. It also has tips on enjoying social events without pigging out.

So, for the next 16 events on my calendar, my goal is to lose one pound per event!

Eureka! It sounds like a great plan.

hmmmm, I've seen clamato juice in the stores. I don't think it's carried everywhere, and I've never tried it, but I think it's available.

I switched over to the low sodium V8 a few years ago. It's what I use with my vitamin in the morning. I'm not much for vodka - too much like rubbing alcohol - although I did manage to drink a bunch of them at Sublime's A2K gathering last May. I keep forgetting the name of the mixer he provided, but it was great.

Now, a bottle of good tequila and a bunch of limes is a whole other story :wink:

JPB--

Great idea--building Real Life into a long-range diet is an excellent idea.

Jumping on board. Now craving Caesar's and margaritas. ..drool.

My work for this week: cutting out one cut of joe. Drinking 1 more glass of water, to get used to the habit of it again.
Adding one more veg and fruit a day.

And, at least 3 days a week where I am exercising for real. That is doable.
Wrote a cute little fun list of all the activities I've been wanting to do but been to lazy to make it a priority. So I can pick n' choose as the mood hits (to trick myself, can't stand strict schedules or plans!).

So far, so good.

Hi there, flushd!

~~~~~

My project this week is still staying away from vendor treats, which continue to arrive post-holiday. I took the two-pound bucket of pecans that was delivered to me - and put it by the mail bins - then convinced my manager to do the same with his bucket of pecans. 1 cup of pecans has 822 calories! I've still got some pumpkin seeds to share - 1 cup (who eats a cup of pumpkin seeds?) 228 calories.

I did have a spicy cheddar stick ( a sort of baby finger-sized tea biscuit ) after my lunch of chicken noodle soup and tuna. My diet/exercise/desk buddy agreed it was a good snack trade-off - especially after my pecan-temptation-removal efforts.

My new pre-Christmas jeans still fit - straight out of the dryer A bit of walking'll hold me through til dance classes start in a week - unless I sign up for the special combos class. Am I that keen? Maybe not.

Thanks mac and noddy. It feels good to have a plan.

Hola, flushd, welcome to camp.

Kudos to ehbeth on the giveaway. I hear you on the post holiday arrivals. I thought I was done with this stuff and received two boxes (250 each) of wonderful truffles. If I eat 500 truffles, we'll be rolling me out of here. Each one is 40 cals and oh-so-good. I've regifted one box and the other will go one at a time as a treat for the days when I need one.

My cousins sent me Godiva chocolates. I shared about a quarter of them. This particular cousin always sends everything very early - these arrived a day or two after Thanksgiving with the Christmas card. She's the cousin who is Very Plan Oriented. We're quite similar but react to our scatteredness in opposite ways. Anyway, I managed to consume the chocolates at a pace of one a day, more or less. Not proud, but not gaining.

I like nuts and sunflower and pumpkin seeds.. like walnuts; especially like pecans, which are quite expensive, to me anyway. I might be turning into that old goat, Ule Gibbons, or whatever his name was.