Okay. First things first.  As I continue to muster my inner willpower, the scale, while slowing down, remains my friend.  Yesterday upon placing my body weight upon the bathroom scale, the numbers were down to 161.50!  I’ll take it.  Its basically ten pounds since I started changing my eating habits.

Happy to see that just about ten pounds have been shed!  Now the hard work really begins!

Not gonna lie.  I ate a few tortilla chips but made sure they were within my range of caloric intake for the day! I’m tracking calories—that’s about it. The App Nutritionix Tracker is what I’ve been using.  It isn’t complicated. It’s simple. And I’m tracking. Albeit not in meal order but I’m being accountable and so far, it is working.

This App was free and works nicely.  I’m counting calories and as long as I stay under 1,200, I’m good.  

What’s the shock?  Yesterday, Friday, Oona went to the doctor for a weekly exam.  Her blood pressure is high. Not in the danger zone but high.  She’s really swollen and retaining a ton of water.  So…this weekend she is relaxing and there is a chance she will be induced on Monday.  If not, she’ll be delivering the following Monday.

This shock to the system made me a bit nervous because I never had those issues pop up in pregnancy. All I want is for my baby to be healthy and my grandbaby to be healthy.  The rosaries were out yesterday and I pray that she ends up with a quick and easy delivery despite the blood pressure.

I had the rosary beads on my desk at work yesterday and every now and then would stop and pray to Mary.  

Now—under normal circumstances, my initial reaction would be to comfort myself with food.  However, upon pondering, food isn’t going to help the situation. Food stuffed into my mouth won’t bring my daughter’s blood pressure down.  Food shoved down my gut won’t make her swelling cease.  So, I’m putting my trust into Oona, Sam and their physician!

I did not do this –even stressed. I did not do this!

I was also happy to show restraint by not indulging with celebratory food and drink on Inauguration Evening! Seriously. I felt a weight of four years being lifted off my shoulders and at the same time, realized that I still need to drop twenty pounds moving forward!

Nor did do this–even celebratory. I did not do this!

That being said (Why do I feel like Jerry Seinfeld every time I say that?), I managed to fit into two skirts that clearly did not fit me at the start of this process.  The first, a gray wool pencil skirt with absolutely no stretch. Size 8. J. Crew. Ended up fitting nicely.  The second a black number with a bit of stretch, also size 8 by GAP, fit very well. Both have zippers in the back and I was able to zip both up.

Truthfully, I was thrilled to fit into a pencil skirt WITH NO STRETCH!  It zipped!!! 

I wore this ensemble to work yesterday! The skirt has stretch but it also has a zipper in the back. It zipped!  Honestly, this is what keeps me going!

As an aside, the damned buiding I work in saves money into their greedy corporate pockets by turning the heat either super low or turning it off. I improvised by ripping arm holes and a wrist hole in this blanket. YES!  While MOST workers for the company I work for are at home enjoying heat, I”M as well as a few others are going into the office only to be freezing.  Oh if I was twenty years younger…..

I’m not ready for jeans yet.  TBH, when I’m carrying a bit of extra weight, jeans feel very cumbersome. Instead, I’m sticking with leggings and pants with stretch!

I’m sticking to leggings for now.  As one who is fond of the front tuck, I’m happy to say that my gut has gone down a bit.  Now I feel better with the tuck!

Tonight, we’ll be having some of the tenderloin I made for Christmas.  That slab of beef was so huge so I cut some off the end and cut those into pieces. I’ll butterfly and pound them flat and grill in our smokeless griller.  Cubed potatoes in duck fat for Bonaparte and baby spinach and rutabaga for me.  I’ve also made room for the aperitif.

Smaller portion are definitely in order here as well!  I’ll have one, Bonaparte will have two…

…and although I’ll be making cubed potatoes sauteed in duck fat for my husband, I’ve already prepared rutabaga for me.  This, when cooked and mashed with no fat added at all, yielded one cup and  approx. 52 calories.

One entire bag, cooked, is 65 calories and this shrinks down to nothing!

My weekend savior has been these Shishito Peppers. I spray a bit of PAM into a pan and heat them up until they are blistered.  About 50 calories a serving.

A spritz of Pam and placed on heat, these blister and sizzle and 60 calories for four ounces.  An added plus is they keep you “regular” if you catch my drift!

In addition, I cooked up 8 Japanese eggplant in my Le Cruset. I used only water, salt, garlic, pepper and threw a few spices in for good measure. I cooked for a couple of hours until a “mush” of sorts was left. I know it looks pretty unappetizing but it is delicious.  Less calories than Hummus or Babaganoush, it makes a fine dip for carrots and veg or to spread on the 2-ingredient bagels I made.

I know—it looks unattractive but is tasty as all get out!  No added fat either. 

Two-ingredient bagels. Self-rising flour and Non-fat Greek Yoghurt. Sprinkled with a bit of Everything seasoning. Not the real deal but satisfies!

There is also some transparency I would like to make. While I realize many people abhor processed foods, there are times they can come in handy.  Canned soup is one of those items.  I happen to be a fan of the Progresso light soups.  Bibigo, a brand that makes various dumplings, makes Chicken and Cilantro dumplings that I think are fantastic.  My girlfriend MaryBeth introduced these to me and I always have a supply on hand.  These days, take from 8 to 12 dumplings and add them to two cups of plain, low-sodium chicken broth for an easy dinner. Trust me, by the time I arrive home from that job of mine, I’m literally too tired to cook a full-on meal.  I’ll prepare Bonaparte’s usual cous-cous and salmon but during the week, I just want soup and to go to bed.

I love the Progresso Light soups!

For added protein, I’ll throw in a few boiled shrimp!

THESE! In a clear, low-sodium, chicken broth are incredibly decadent, delicious and diet-friendly!  

So that’s about it!  Weight loss is never easy. It’s so easy to gain but so difficult to lose. And try our best is what we can do.  Goals, IMHO, should be thrown out the window.  Any goal I’ve tried to reach, was screwed.  So, I just go for baby steps!

Pretty much how I feel about goals!

Stay focused. We can do this!