Like many of you out there, I have been trying (very unsuccessfully) to trim down my spending habits to the bare minimum. I just looked at my bank account and it looks pretty grim given that I am planning several trips this summer. The only way that I can think of to save money right now is to skim the fat off of my already lean living expenses. This means I most likely will need to cut out my favorite pastime – going out to eat.
Some of you may fancy dining out as a means to an end (“I’m hungry and I don’t want to cook” or “I am meeting some friends for lunch”) but I actually look at going out to eat as the “main event” to an evening out. As a hobby I follow restaurant openings, new chefs, reviews, cookbooks, food blogs etc, etc, etc. It’s an obsession and one that is hard to manage when you are on a diet. Don’t even get me started on wine.
But sadly, all good things must come to an end. Looking over last week’s expenditures, I just realized that I went out to eat 7 times in 7 days – which is probably a good explanation for how I sabotaged myself and gained a pound. Drinking bourbon and then eating Korean and Thai food is probably not the best idea when you are on a diet either. If you were wondering, I KNOW THIS.
In my own defense, it’s so hard to be good when you are taunted with the plethora of food options that Seattle has. Just look at the place that we ate at on Sunday:
Those people have been waiting there for 45 minutes to eat at a divey Thai joint on The Ave called Thai Tom. It’s tiny in there – basically a countertop with 8-10 seats and 4 tables that seat 2. The staff generally treat you like shit and don’t hesitate to tell you to not come back if you don’t tip sufficiently. That said, I have never been there where there wasn’t a crowd waiting to eat there and 10 take out orders in process. It’s that good.
Sadly though, a week of food debauchery manifests itself with a 1 lb gain and a protruding gut. I am beginning to think that the only thing that keeps me going sometimes is this blog. Seriously, Monday updates just about save me from myself each week. Knowing that I have to come to terms with the weight gain/loss with all of you makes me feel accountable – regardless of if I am feeling like a complete mamby pamby for my highs and lows.
And thank God you are here, because I am pressing the reset button this week and quite literally cutting the fat out of a lot of aspects in my life. I need to get my kicks somewhere and it certainly won’t be from the inside of a restaurant.
On Saturday, I was invited (last minute) to be a “plus-one” at wedding down in Portland, Oregon. Given that I hadn’t anticipated going, I had to do some whirlwind shopping on Friday night in order to find a dress that was appropriate for an outdoor wedding. And more importantly, I had to find something that actually fit.
Spending an evening trying on dresses for a wedding was quite painful. And to be honest, I haven’t worn a dress in years so it was doubly painful. Baring my legs is something that I haven’t done in a long time since I am bottom heavy (my large calves are definitely a product of a generation of women that worked hard labor in the rice paddies of Korea). In fact, so terrifying is a dress to me that I actually entertained wearing a pantsuit for a couple of minutes. I stopped myself because I am tired of looking dowdy all of the time. Plus, I don’t think I could have stood hearing, “Aren’t you hot in that?” ALL. DAY. LONG.
So in the spirit of breaking down barriers, I buckled down, gritted my teeth and slipped on a black, sleeveless, A-line dress and donned on some 3-inch pointy toed heels. Sadly, since only 1/4 of my body is ever exposed to the sun, I had the worst assortment of tan lines imaginable (tops of my feet and lower arms are really, really tan in comparison to say … my white ass). It’s really quite ridiculous. To counter the variance of skin tone between my arms and legs, I slathered on self-tanner all over my calves, thighs and upper arms. More appropriately, I HASTILY slathered on self-tanner. As a result, my legs ended up looking like a Lindsay Lohan shade of orange and my arms ended up looking two-toned with orange zebra stripes. Against a black dress. Just like Halloween. So hot.
But despite the crazy faux tan, bare calves and cramped toes – a funny thing happened. For the first time in a long time, I felt comfortable. And maybe even a tad bit pretty. Even though my body is not where I would like it to be, I didn’t feel self-conscious. Instead, I felt self-confident. So despite the small loss this week, I’ve gained a whole lot of perspective.
And if you need some more weight loss stories and inspiration, Joie de Vivre asks Bernie and Sunny the question:
“How do your family and friends support you or hinder you in your weight loss efforts? Do they adapt easily to your changing habits and help you along, or do they confront your new habits with skepticism?
Find out what they have to say by clicking here and here.
Last night I was watching the Week 13 episode of The Biggest Loser: Couples online. To make a long story short, this season has been different from all the others. Instead of eliminating people by the week, they immediately sent half of the contestants home after the FIRST week – basically to prove to the viewers that they could do it from home too.
Eventually most of the contestants made their way back onto the ranch in Week 5. The three that didn’t return were given a chance to come back in last week’s episode.
Let me digress for a second. I don’t ever like to compare my weight loss to the results on TBL. The contestants have Bob and Jillian riding their asses on a daily basis and their only real purpose in life is to lose weight for 18 weeks straight. You can’t compete with that. Or maybe you can.
Upon returning to the show, the contestant named Nicole revealed that she had lost a total of 87 pounds in the 12 weeks – mostly from home. In case you were wondering, that is a 7.25 lbs. per week. She has the 2nd largest percentage of weight loss in the entire group. This is from dieting and exercising – AT HOME! I haven’t seen that kind of dramatic weight loss since the early 90′s when my coworker was constantly doing crystal meth! And no, I am not implying that she is on crystal meth.
Considering that I have lost 13 lbs. in 14 weeks (this week was another “zero” … but I blame the big bloat from PMS). I totally feel like I can step it up a notch. In fact, I feel like I can step it up a big notch. Why prolong the agony of posting my nominal weight loss every week? Why not kick myself in the butt a little more, get up a little earlier, work out a little longer? It’s time to get serious. Summer is just around the corner and I want to wear a dress. Or at least shorts for goodness sakes.
In other weight loss news, Bernie from Yo-yo No More asks the question:
“You’ve got a big event coming up, and your still not at a “happy weight”, how do you combat those feelings of self doubt and have a good time without getting caught up in the “I’m so fat, I look so bad” crazy talk running around in your head?”
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