As not-really-promised, but tried—here’s the beginning of a weekly post covering the weight loss journey. I know. It’s Thursday evening but I’m afraid I’ll oversleep in the morning and will be late for work and I won’t be able to post so………..
Sorry Oprah. But I’m doing this with my friends!!!
Are you in? Anybody? Bueller? Anybody? Let’s do this together! I you are on a similar journey comment and join in so we can support each other.
Anyone? Anyone? Wanna do this with me?
So—how did this week go for you? For me, I thought it would have gone a bit better.
I started out at 165. Just over a week ago. For my 5’6″ frame, I’m carrying some extra weight. Tuesday night when I weighed myself I was 159. I was thrilled. When I arrived home from work, I got on the scale and the number rose a bit. I was so frustrated that I moved the scale into various places of the house and my weight fluctuated from 2 ounces to 8 ounces on that 160.
Seriously. In different spots of the room, my weight fluctuated!
Look. While I realize it is just a number, it is just frustrating because I’ve been having some seriously stellar willpower. And I’m normally a very weak individual.
Last night I made two Nougatines from the Barefoot Contessa’s recipe. Roman is coming over for the weekend because once rehearsals for SNL begin, it’ll be a while until he visits again on the weekend. Bonaparte’s daughter, her husband and their daughter will be joining us for dinner Saturday evening.
Two of these are in the freezer and I haven’t dug into either of them. I’ll serve one with a chocolate sauce and one with a raspberry sauce…
I WILL be making my Vietnamese Lemongrass Chicken for everyone. It’s a dish that I can have!
The kids all love this nougatine. In order to make it, though, a pistachio brittle is needed. And under normal circumstances when I make this delectable brittle, I eat half of it. I had NONE of it. Not one nut. Not one piece of brittle. No licking the spoon. NADA!!!
And I think that’s the frustrating part about losing weight. It just seems that you can literally eat five pounds of food on any given weekend and it’ll show on the scale. However, if you eat small portions, and stick to a healthy diet and no carbs or processed foods, and the numbers aren’t budging the way you want—it’s a very daunting event.
But—perseverance is needed because I know that I’m not alone.
I’ll tell you—even though I’ve been brown bagging it every day, my coworkers remain kind enough to ask me if I want anything for lunch. Lunch every day has been a Boca Burger on an Arnold Sandwich thin and lettuce and a slice of tomato.
My daily lunch..with tomato and lettuce!
My “snack” is fruit. And sometimes low-calorie yogurt that is probably 100 percent fake stuff.
I love that this is both natural AND artificial!
Dinners have been carefully monitored and my food choices have been far better. Actually the Boca Burgers and that mysterious yogurt are the only “processed” foods to pass through my intestinal tract.
I had more tomatoes for dinner tonight–with avocado and shrimp!
The big willpower guns will be out in force this weekend. Labor Day Weekend. Saturday night we’ll be having a lot of food at our house but I’m going to really be good.
Some will be counting down the beers and hot dogs they will be chowing on. I’ll be counting points!
Speaking of which, can you believe it’s September? Where did the summer go? The only beaches I sat my fat ass at were in France and we never made it to the Jersey Shore at all—it’s a shocker for me. My skin thanks me.
Here’s where the beginning of MY summer was spent!
In addition, summer is always movie blockbuster season. We saw two movies. “Absolutely Fabulous” and “Bad Moms”. Where were all the great summer hits?
…and “Bad Moms” was more like a biography!!
Come to think of it, Edina and I have a lot in common too. These were the only movies we saw ALL summer. What’s up with the film industry?
We live in a development. The ice cream man never came by. I’m wondering if people don’t like the ice cream man anymore. It’s very disheartening for me. Growing up we had so many choices: Bungalow Bar; Good Humor; Mr. Softee and my personal favorite, Freezer Fresh.
Believe me. Over the years I’ve enjoyed MANY treats from all of these trucks. My thighs, my chins, my upper arms, my gut and my ass can prove it to you!
When we lived in New Jersey a generic ice cream truck hit our development’s pool every afternoon and the neighborhood streets in the evening. When we lived in Manhattan, the ice cream man made a killing when he parked his truck outside the playground! I guess parents have gotten too healthy.
Sometimes I wonder if young kids are missing the fun my own kids had during those summers in the 1990’s.
The boys played summer baseball and going to their games in the evening was a social event. It didn’t matter that we were getting eaten alive by every bug known to man. Mugginess was cut with many glasses of iced tea.
The neighborhood kids would be outdoors till almost midnight playing “Manhunt” and “Capture the Flag”.
No. Nobody keeps calm while playing Capture the Flag. And that’s the beauty of the game!
When they were young, we would catch fireflies.
There’s no greater summer fun than bending down with a jar full of grass (from the LAWN) and capturing those fireflies before capturing that flag!
But I think my favorite summer activity was stargazing. Every now and then Mother Nature would gift us with a crystal clear night. The kind of night where every star in the galaxy decided to come out to socialize. I would get a huge old comforter, throw it on the lawn and the kids and I would just lie down and gaze at the stars. It was a wonderful feeling and is still a great memory.
I can only hope that my own children stargaze with theirs when the time comes. It truly is magical!
When we lived in NYC, the adults would convene on lawn chairs in front of the apartment building we lived in. My neighbor Diana’s husband would make the greatest Pina Coladas on earth and we would enjoy them while the kids played.
And when we left the city for New Jersey, we had a similar situation. The people on the street that I lived on were always out in the evening, lawn chairs in the driveway or in someone’s backyard. Just enjoying each other.
I don’t think people do that anymore.
So let’s pretend that these weekly weight loss posts will be a neighborhood gathering. Get your lawn chairs out! Or pretend that the chair you are sitting on is a lawn chair and we’re having one big party!
I promise to support you! Hey. Do you like my new topper? It blends well with my hair–well, with the hair I have left!
It’ll be fun as we support each other!
And on this September 1st, I pause to give my dad happy birthday wishes. He’s here in spirit and I’m sure he’s enjoying this day!!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY! He would have been 87 today and not a day goes by that I don’t miss my dad. He was one in a million. New York’s Finest Cop!! Our Finest Dad!!
Comment on your progress or your frustration or if you need support!!
Today I give you one of my father’s favorite songs of all time. Jambalaya by Hank Williams.
